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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
3 1833 01151 3220
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HISTORY
WILLAMETTE YALIEYJm^
Description of the Valley and its Resources, with an account of its
Discovery and Settlement by White Men, and
its Subsequent History-,
TOGETHER WITH
Personal Reminiscences of its Early Pioneers.
Edited by H. O.LANG,
Published by Himes <fe Lang.
PORTLAND, OREGON:
Geo. H. Himes, Book and Job Printer.
1885.
NOTK.
This work is written and published for the purpose of arranging and preserv-
ing, in useful and compact forni, the scattered records and recollections of this por-
tion of Oregon. It will be found to contain a considerable amount of matter which
seems properly to belong to ti history of the State at large, and wliieli has been
incorporated into tliis volume because, as is well understood, the Willamette Valley
contains the greater part of the population of the commonwealth, and has, since
the earliest settlement of Oregon, constituted by far the most important section,
although its area only amounts to one-seventh of the present State. Much of the
contents of this volume has never before appeared in jjrint, and except for its pub-
lication herein would never have appeared, as it consists largely in personal recol-
lections which, by the laborious method pursued, have been gathered up and pre-
served herein. In this connection the publishers desire to express their thanks to
all who have, without asking remuneration, contributed information or otherwise
favored the progress of this work. Their gratitude is particularly due to John
Minto, 8. A. Clarke, D. D. Prettyman and C. Uzafovage, of Salem; Dr. J. L. Hill,
of Albany; J. M. Bates, of Jefferson, the first of the living pioneers ; and S. A.
Moreland, of Portland, the author of the treatise upon the railways of the Valley,
which is included. The newspapers of the Valley have, almost without exception,
devoted their columns generously to the needs of the new publication. The valu-
able collections of the Portland Library Association have been of such use that an
acknowledgment is suitable. Having completed the work with whatever of indus-
try and ability the compilers have been enabled to expend upon it, it is now sub-
mitted to the criticisms of those to whom its contents may have interest. By criti-
cism is meant that fair and profound discussion which intelligence inspires. Such
criticism invariably is of value, and in this instance will prove doubly so, as the
present work is but one of a series of historical compositions, whose later issues will
rectify the possible errors of their predecessors.
COPYRIGHT, 1885,
BY GEO. H. HIMES AND H. O. LANQ.
1198S38
TO THE
PIONEERS OK OREQON
THIS WORK
Is dedicated as a token of re-
spect and reverence for their character and their
actions Amid constant and arduous trials and privations, and in
the frequent presence of danger, they transplanted from the distant lands of their
nativity the civilization which has converted this once trackless wilderness into the flourishing Com-
monwealth whose history is the theme of these pages; and their story — oft told
before, and now imperfectly repeated here — will bear a charmed
interest as long as patriotism exists, or courage
and fortitude are admired.
CONXKNTPS.
CHAPTER I.
America in the Sixteenth Century.— Simin's Foothold in the New
World — The Age of Romance and Adventure— The Method and Succes-
sive Stages of Conquest— Discovery of the South Sea, or Pacific Ocean, by
Balboa and Magellan— Conquest of Mexico and Peru- First Attempt to
Colonize the Peninsula of Lower California— Efforts of Portugal, Eng-
land and France 17
CHAPTER II.
The Fabulous Straits of Anian.— Cortereal Discovers the Straits of Lab-
rador— Imagines he has passed through Novus Mundus— Vasco de Gama
reaches India by doubling the Cape of Good Hope— Naming of the Straits
of Anian by Cortereal — Magellan's Discovery of a Southwest Passage
Confirms the Belief in a Northwest one —Explorations of Cortes in the
Pacific— Voyage of Francisco de Ulloa — Mendoza Dispatches Alarcon and
Coronado in Search of Cibola and Quivira — Voyage of Juan Rodriguez
Cabrillo— His Death — Ferrelo Continues the Voyage to Latitude 43° or 44°
—Spain Abandons the Searvih for the Straits of Anian and Turns her At-
tention to the Indies — Spanish Commerce Supreme in the Pacific— Her
Claim of Exclusive Domain— The Buccaneers, or Freebooters of the Span-
ish Main, Invade the Pacific — Piratical Voyage of Sir Francis Drake — He
Searches for the Straits of Anian — Dispute among Histoi'ians as to the
Extent of his Voyage— Drake Lands his Pilot in Oregon — Drake's Bay
not the Baj' of San Francisco — Drake Takes Possession of New Albion —
Romances of Chaplain Fletcher — Drake's Success Excites the Emulation
of other Adventurers— Fraudulent Claims of Discovery of a Northwest
Passage — Maldonado's Pretended Voyage through the Straits of Anian
— His Memorial a Sham 21
CHAPTER III.
The Straits of Juan de Fuca and the River of Kings.— Narrative of
Michael Lock, the Elder— ^Story of Juan de Fuca, as told by Lock — de-
scription of the Straits of Fuca — Controversy among Historians over
Fuca's alleged Voyage — Both Sides Carefully Considered— Probably a
Myth — Admiral Fonte's alleged Voyage — The River of Kings — Its Ab-
surdity Pointed Out 37
CHAPTER IV.
Voyages and Events of the Seventeenth Century.— Philip orders a
Voyage along the Pacific Coast— Reasons Assigned by Torquemada and
Venegas— Viscaino sent out by the Viceroy in 1596— Viscaino's second
Voyage in 1602 — Ravages of the Scurvy— He Enters Monterey — Argu-
ment of the Claim that he Entered San Francisco Bay— Earliest Positive
VI CONTENTS.
Knowledge of that Harbor— Viscaino goes to Latitude 42° and returns ;
but Aguilar reaches 43°— Cape Blanco and the River of Aguilar— Califor-
nia Supposed to be an Island— Viscaino dies after Obtaining a Royal
' Mandate to occupy Monterey — Spain Ceases all Explorations of the Coast- 45
CHAPTER V.
Hudson's Bay, Cape Horx, and Behrixg's Straits.— Discovery of Davis'
Straits— Henry Hudson, William Baffin, and other Exploi-ers in the
North-Atlantic— Dutch Navigators Discover the Passage around Cape
Horn— Buccaneers Swarm into the Pacific by the New Route— Otondo
attempts to Colonize Lower California— The Hudson's Bay Company Char-
tered, in 1669, to Discover the Straits of A nian— Privileges Granted by the
Charter— The Company Heads off all efforts at Exploration— Russians
cross Siberia and Explore the Pacific — Plans of Peter the Great— Dis-
covery of Behring's Straits and Alaska— Voyage of Tchirikof— Behring
Discovers Mount St. Elias and Dies on Behring's Isle — The Early Fur
Trade of the North Pacific— Benyowsky Takes a Cargo of Furs to Canton
and thus Reveals the Magnitude of the Pacific Ocean— Russian Idea of
Alaskan Geography -52
CHAPTER VI.
FrOiM Captain Carver to Captain Cook.— The Jesuits Colonize Lower Cal-
ifornia—The Franciscans Enter California— Discovery of San Francisco
Bay— Early French Explorers— The River of the West— Veren dry e Ex-
plores the Rocky Mountains— France Sells Louisiana to Spain and Loses
Canada to England by Conquest— Journey of Captain Carver— He calls
the River of the West " Oregon "—Argument upon the Origin of the
Word "Oregon"— The Generally Accepted Spanish Theory does not
Stand the Light of Investigation — The Hudson's Bay Comjiany's Policy
of Keeping the World Ignorant of the Geography of the Country Occu-
pied by Them— Samuel Hearne Discovers Great Slave Lake, Coppermine
River and the Arctic Ocean— Russia's Activity in Alaska Incites Spain to
Renew her Explorations— Voyage of Perez and Martinez — Perez enters
Port San Lorenzo, or Nootka Sound — Martinez Claims to have Observed
the Straits of Fuca— Voyage of Heceta and Bodega y Quadra — Bellin's
Wonderful Chart— Discovery of Trinidad Bay— Isla de Dolores, or Destruc-
tion Island— Heceta Attempts to Enter the Columbia— Spanish and En-
glish Methods of Exploration Compared— Bodega and Maurelle Discover
Mount San Jacinto, or Edgecumb — They Land and Take Possession for
the King of Spain— They Reach Latitude 58° and Return— England, in
Alarm at the Progress Made by Spain and Russia, Sends Captain Cook to
the Pacific — His Particular Instructions— Cook Names the Sandwich
Islands, Cape Flattery and Nootka Sound, and Searches for the Straits of
Fuca, River of Kings and Straits of Anian— He Passes Through Beh-
ring's Straits and Around the Northwestern Extremity of Alaska —
Winters in the Sandwich Islands and is killed by the Natives— The Ex-
pedition Again Visits the Arctic, Takes a Cargo of Furs to Canton and
Returns to England— The Record of the Voyage Pigeon-holed Until the
War is Over— Enterprise of John Ledyard— Arteaga, Bodega and Maurelle
Follow Cook's Route Up the Coast 63
CHAPTER VII.
Spain's Supremacy in the Pacific Overthrown.— The Russian- American
Trading Company— France sends La Perouse to the Pacific— James
CONTENTS. Vll
Hanna makes the First Voyage in the Fur Trade from Euglaud— Bug-
land's Short-sighted Policy of Granting Monopoly Charters— The East
India ( 'oiiipany and South Sea Company — Their Conllicting Interests
Lead to the Organization of the King George's Sound Company — Belief
that North America above Latitude 49° was an Archipelago of Huge
Islands— First Voyage of Captain Meares — His Terrible Winter on the
Alaskan Coast— Captain Barclay Discovers the Straits of Fuca— Meares
Engages in the Fur Trade under the Portuguese Flag — He Builds the
Schooner " Northwest America " at Nootka Sound— Explores the Straits
of Fuca— His Unsuccessful Search for the Rio de San Roque— Deception
Bay and Cape Disappointment — The United States Enters the Contest
for the Control of th.e Pacific Coast — The "Columbia Rediviva" and
" Lady Washington "—The Latter Attacked by Indians, and the Former
Supjilies Spain with an Opportunity to Promulgate her Doctrine of Ex-
clusive Rights in the Pacific— Martinez sent to Explore the Coast and In-
vestigate the Russians — His Report of Russian Operations Causes Spain
to Send a Remonstrance to the Empress— Martinez Fortifies Nootka and
Takes Possession in the Name of the King of S])ain— He Seizes the "Iphi-
genia" and "Northwest America "—Colnett and Hudson arrive in the
"Argonaut" and "Princess Royal "—Are made Prisoners by Martinez
and sent to Mexico— The Prisoners Released and Vessels Restored— Con-
troversy between England and Spain Terminated by the Nootka Conven-
tion— Stipulations of the Treaty Displease both Parties 92
CHAPTER VIII.
PuuKT Sound and Coi>umbia Rivkr Discovered.— Explorations of Lieuten-
ant Quimper in the Straits of Fuca— He takes Formal Possession for Spain
— Elisa Explores the Straits of Fuca and Gulf of Georgia — Malaspina and
Bustamante Searqh for the Straits of Anian — Kendrick Again Visits the
Coast and Buys Land from the Indians — Gray Arrives in the Columbia
and Winters at Clayoquot— Events of 1792 — Spain makes a Last Effort to
Explore the Disputed Region— Arrival of Vancouver's Expedition — He
Examines tlie Oregon Coast— Searches in Vain for the Rio de San Roque
—He Records his Unqualified Disbelief in such a River— Gray Builds the
"Adventure" at Clayoquot— He Discovers the Columbia River — Vancou-
ver Explores Paget Sound and Falls in with the Spaniards— He Examines
the Coast Carefully — Meets Quadra at Nootka — Finds Him Prepared with
Proofs to Sustain the Cause of Spain— They Fail to Agree on Terms —
They BestoM' their Names upon the Island of Vancouver and Quadra—
Broughton Explores the Columbia— Vancouver Finishes His Explorations
and Returns to England— The Nootka Question Settled and the Port
Abandoned - Ho
CHAPTER IX.
OvERi.AND Journeys to the Pacific— Organization of the Northwest Com-
pany of Montreal— Mackenzie's .lourney to the Arctic Ocean— His Trip to
the Pacific in 1792— Discovery and Naming of Eraser River— Treaty of
1794 Opens a Western Field for American Traders — Conflicting Claims of
Various Nations at the Beginning of the Present Century — Spain Recon-
veys Louisiana to P'rance in ISOO — Thomas .Teffei'son's Efforts to have the
Unknown Region Explored — Louisiana Purchased by the United States
— The Lewis and Clarke Expedition — They Winter with the Mandan
Indians — Ascend the Missouri — Cross to Clarke's Fork — Reach the Nez
Perces — Descend Clearwater, Lewis (Snake) and Columbia Rivers to the
Vlll CONTENTS.
Pacific— Winter at Fort Clatsop— The Multnomah, or Willamette, River
—The Walla Walla, Cayuse and Nez Perce Indians— Lewis and Clarke
Descend the Yellowstone and Missouri— Effect of their Great Journey-
Anxiety of Great Britain— Fort Fraser Established in New Caledoniar—
Fort Henry Built on Snake River 130
CHAPTER X.
Astoria axd the Joint Occupation Treaty. — The Pacific Fur Trade at the
Beginning of the Present Century — Americans in the Lead — Their Plan
oi Operations — Russia Complains of the Sale of Fire-Arms to the Indians
— John Jacob Astor's Plans — The Pacific Fur Company Organized —
Astor's Alien Partners— The "Tonquin" Sails from New York — Dissen-
sions on the Voyage — Dangers of the Columbia Bar — Astoria Founded —
. Sad Fate of the " Tonquin " and Her Crew— Appearance at Astoria of an
Agent of the Northwest Company — Fort Okinagan— Launch of the
"Dolly " — Sufferings of Wilson Price Hunt's Party— Operations along the
Columbia— Astoria Sold to the Northwest Company— Captured by the
English and Named "Fort George "—Unsuccessful Efforts of Mr. Astor
to Regain Possession — Negotiations under the Treaty- of Ghent— Conflict-
ing Claims to Oregon Advanced by England and the United States-
Technical Surrender of Fort George — Joint Occupation Agreed Upon —
The Florida Treaty 147
CHAPTER XL
The Rival Fur Companies. — Growth and Power of the Northwest Company
—Rivalry between it and the Hudson's Bay Companj^ — The Red River
War— Barrows' Description of the Hudson's Bay Company— The Cana-
dian Voyageurs — Fort Vancouver Founded — Dunn's Description of the
Fort and the Methods of the Hudson's Bay Company in Oregon 169
CHAPTER XII.
Diplomacy Again Ends in Joint Occupation.— Claim of the United States
to the Columbia River — Spasmodic Consideration of the Oregon Question
in Congress— The Russian Ukase — The Monroe Doctrine — Negotiations in
1824 — Claims of the United States Advanced by Mr. Rush — The Opposing
Claims of Great Britain — Reply of Mr. Rush and the English Commis-
sioners to Each Other— England Rc'iects America's Offer of the Fifty-first
Parallel, and Proposes the Forty-ninth and Columbia River — Rush Offers
the Forty-ninth to the Ocean— Rejected and the Negotiations Terminate
—Mr. Gallatin Sent to London in 1826— Offer of the Columbia again made
by England and Rejected— The Doctrine of Contiguity— The Spanish
Title as Modified by the Nootka Convention— Trading Posts Declared not
to be Settlements by Mr. Gallatin, a Declaration which Becomes a Boom-
erang— The Period of Joint Occupation Indefinitely Extended 179
CHAPTER XIII.
Failure of all Attempts at Joint Occupation by the Americans.—
Outlook for Joint Occupation— Comparison of the Advantages of the Eng-
lish and American Traders — Character of the American Trappers— The
Hudson's Bay Company's Methods and Servants — Growth of the Ameri-
can Fur Trade— The American Fur Company— The Missouri Fur Com-
pany—Ashley, of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, Penetrates the
Rocky Mountains— Method of Conducting Trapping Enterprises— The
Annual Rendezvous— Jedediah S. Smith's First Overland Journey — His
Second Journey Fraught with Disaster— His Adventures in California —
CONTENTS. IX
His party Massacred on the Umpqua— The Hudson's Bay Company Re-
cover Smith's Furs and Pay him for Them— Gray's Version of this Affair
—The Subject Discussed— Bostons and King George's Men— Dr. Mc-
Loughlin's Account of this Episode — McLeod's Unfortunate Expedition
— Ogden's Expedition to the Humboldt and California— Death of Smith
—Major Pilcher and Ewing Young— Hudson's Bay Company Establish
Fort Umpqua and a Headquarters in California— Bonneville's Trading
Ventures— Two Efforts of Nathaniel J. Wyeth to Trade in Oregon Result
Disastrously— MeLoughlin's Remarks on Wyeth— Abandonment of Ore-
gon by American Trappers 186
CHAPTER XIV.
Foundation and Progress of the Missions. — Missionaries Introduce a
New Element into the Oregon Question — The Flatheads send Messengers
to St. Louis to Procure a Bible— Jason Lee and others sent by the Meth-
odist Board of Missions— They Locate in the Willamette Valley— Their
Plan of Operations — Sickness at the Mission and Hostility of the Indians
— Parker and Whitman sentby the American Board— Parker's Triumphal
March— He Returns Home and Publishes a Book — Mr. and Mrs. Whit-
man—Whitman Takes a Cart as Far as Fort Boise— Missions Founded at
Waiilatpu and Lapwai— Progress of the Missions of the American Board
—Mission Founded at The Dalles— Advent of the Catholics— A Religious
War at Once Begins— A Few Sample Incidents — Effects of 'the Two
Forms of Worship upon the Natives 2it7
CHAPTER XV.
American E^iigrants Organize a Provisional Government.— Early
Advocates of Oregon Emigration -Efforts of Hall J. Kelley— The Ameri-
can Society for the Settlement of Oregon Territory — It ^Memorializes Con-
gress and Advertises for Emigrants — Wyeth, Kelley and Ewing Young
come to Oregon — Eai'liest American Settlers — McLoughlin's Account of
Settlement of French Prairie — The Willamette Cattle Company — Popula-
tion of Oregon in 1840— First Effort at a Government — Settlement at Wil-
lamette Falls — Radical Change in the Policy of the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany as Regards Settlers — The Company's Deep Laid Plan — Attitude of
the Company and its Chief Representative — Dr. McLoughlin Considered
—Reasons for the Bitter Feeling Entertained by some Americans— Dr.
McLoughlin's Statement of His Conduct and the Treatment Received
from both English and Americans — A Bad Showing for the Gratitude of
some Americans — Classification of the Poi^ulation as Regards Interests —
Reasons for Desiring a Government— A Petition Sent to Congress in 1840
— First Meeting to Form a Government— Death of Ewing Young Leads
to the Organization of a Government— The Officers Elected — Failure to
Form a Constitution— The Wilkes Expedition — The Wolf Meeting— The
First Legislative Committee — Organization of the Provisional Govern-
ment—The First Officers— Condition of the Missions— Antagonism of the
Indians to American Settlers— Dr. White Induces the Nez Perces, Was-
copums and Cayuses to Adopt a Code of Laws 222
CHAPTER XVI.
Dr. Whitman and the Emigration of 1843. — What Induced the Emigra-
tion of 1843 — Steps Taken to Organize the Movement — Dr. Whitman's
Character— His Anxiety to Americanize Oregon — The Ashburton Treaty
and the Cod Fishery— Whitman's Decision to Visit Washington— The .
Waiilatpu Meeting — The Unfortunate Controversy over the Services of
X CONTENTS.
Dr. Whitman— Gray's Walla Walla Romance— Its Absurdity Pointed Out
—The Facts— Whitman and Lovejoy's Journey— Extent of Whitman's
Influence in Inducing Emigration— His Visit to Washington and Boston
—Organization and Journey of the Emigrants— List of Emigrants and
Population of Oregon in 1843— Fremont's Exploring Party 200
CHAPTER XVII.
1844 TO 1849.— Indian Difficulty at Oregon City— First Military Company-
Methodist Missions Abandoned — Increase of the Catholic Workers — Elec-
tion of 1844 — Abstract of Votes— Proceedings of the Legislative Commit-
tee—Emigration of 1844— List of Emigrants — Election of 1845— George
Abernethy Chosen First Governor of Oregon --Abstract of Votes— Oath
of Office— Dr. White and the Memorial to Congress— Wheat a Legal
Tender— Census of 1845— Emigration of 1845— Meek Takes the Emigrants
by a New Route and Loses Them in the Mountains— The Eventful Year
of 1846— Mr. Blaine's Account of the Settlement of the Oregon Question
—Election of 1846— Emigration of 1846— The Applegate Trail— Flags of
the Schooner " Shark "—Emigration of 1847— The Traveling Nursery —
Elections of 1847 and 1848— Emigration of 1848 279
CHAPTER XVIII.
The Whitman Massacre and the Cayuse War.- Condition of Protestant
and Catholic Missions in 1847 — Situation of Affairs at Waiilatpu — Tom
Hill and Joe Lewis— Whitman Buys The Dalles Mission and Prepares to
Abandon Waiilatpu— Catholics Establish a Mission on the Umatilla —
Sickness among the Cayuses — Joe Lewis' Poison Story— Evidence of
Colonel Craig and the Whitman Indians— Details of the Massacre-
Charges Against the Catholics— Ransom of the Captives— Action of the
Provisional Government— Oregon Rifles take Possession of The Dalles—
A Regiment Organized— Campaign in the Cayuse Country— End of the
War— Five Cayuses Executed at Oregon City ."05
CHAPTER XTX.
Oregon Becomes an Organized Territory.— News Brought by Emigrants
in 1847 very Disheartening— Letter of Senator Benton— J. Quinn Thorn-
ton Sent to Washington to Urge Legislation— Incidents of his Journey —
.loseph L. Meek Sent to Washington after the Whitman Massacre— His
Mid-Winter Journey — Interesting Account of the Contest in the Senate
over the Oregon Bill— General Joseph Lane Appointed Governor— His
Trip Overland— Organization of the Government— Officers of the Old and
New Governments— Census of 1849— Discovery of Gold in California-
Beaver Money ol9
CHAPTER XX.
Oregon as a Territory.— Organization of the Territorial Government-
First Legislature— Towns in Oregon in 1850— A Military Episode— John P.
Gaines Succeeds General Lane as Governor— Inharmonj' between Demo-
cratic Legislature and Whig Officers— Three Newspapers Enter the Field
—The Steamer " Lot Whitcomb "—Oregon City and Salem Contest for
tlie Capital— Wreck of the "General Warren "—Indian Troubles in 1851-
52-53— George L. Curry becomes Governor— Efforts to Form a State Con-
stitution—Colville Mines— Indian War of 1855-56— Political Complica-
tions—Eraser River Excitement— Oregon Admitted to the Union 332
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXI.
Indian Wars of 1853 and 1854.— Outrages Committed in Rogue River Valley
— Volunteer Companies Organized— General Lane Takes Command — De-
feat of Lieutenant Griffin and of Lieutenant Ely— Indians Defeated at
Battle Creek— Armistice of Seven Days— The Table Rock Treaty— Inci-
dents of the "Peace Talk"— The Grave Creek Massacre- Captain Miller
Sent to Escort Emigrants through the Modoc Country— Expenses of the
War Paid by the Government— Events of 1854— The Snake River Massacre
— Expedition of Major Haller to Fort Boise 353
CHAPTER XXII.
The Great Outbreak of 1855.— Inability of Indians to form a Coherent Com-
bination—Rogue River, Puget Sound and the Columbia Hostilities Dis-
tinct and Separate — Relation of Whites and Indians in Rogue River Val-
ley—Controversy between General Wool and the Citizens— Incidents be-
fore the Outbreak— The Lupton Affair— Quick Revenge of the Indians-
Massacre of October 9th— Heroic Defense of Mrs. Harris— Great Excite-
ment Prevails — A Review of the Situation— Causes which Led to the War
on the Columbia— Indian Treaties made by Stevens and Palmer— They
Mislead the People by Publishing Incorrect Statements of what they have
Accomplished— Discovery of Gold in the Colville Region— Sauce for the
Goose not Sauce for the Gander- Murder of Mattice- Hegira from Colville
and Walla Walla— Murder of Indian Agent Bolan— Regulars Invade the
Yakima Country — Defeat of Major Haller — Major Raines Calls for Volun-
teers— Governor Curry Calls for Ten Companies — General Wool's opinion
of Governor Curry's Conduct — Another Cause Assigned for the War —
Excitement in Willamette Valley— The " Oregonian " and " Statesman "
— Wars and Rumors of Wars Alarm the People 365
CHAPTER XXIII.
The Fall Campaigns in the South.— Governor Curry Calls for Two Bat-
talions of Volunteers— Siege of Galice Creek— Battle of Hungry Hill— A
Poor Commissariat, and Jealousy between Regulars and Volunteers Cause
Disaster— Organization of the Two Battalions— They Arrange with the
Regulars for a Joint Campaign— The First Meadows Campaign— Invasion
of the Rice Settlement— Massacre of Peaceable Umpquas in Looking-Glass
Valley— Attack on the Camps of Jake and John— The Siege on Applegate
Creek— Fight on Murphy Creek— Close of the Campaign for the Winter-- 394
CHAPTER XXIV.
The Yakima, Walla Walla and Puget Sound Campaigns.— Troops
Concentrate at The Dalles— Conflict of authority— An Incident at Van-
couver—Block House Built at the Cascades — Efforts to Equip the Volun-
teers—Regulars and Volunteers March North from The Dalles— Plan
of the Campaign— The Fight on the Banks of the Yakima and at the
" Buttes "—Burning of the Catholic Mission Ends the Campaign— Ef-
forts to Treat with Peu-peu-mox-mox — Prelude to the Walla Walla Cam-
paign— Fort Henrietta — Regulars Refuse their Aid in a Useless Winter
Campaign— Unfitness of the Volunteers for such a Campaign— Colonel
Kelly Marches Against the Walla Wallas— Capture of Peu-peu-mox-mox
Under a Flag of Truce — A Night of Suspense and Excitement — A Fruit-
less Ante-Breakfast March— Battle of Walla Walla— Killing of Peu-peu-
mox-mox and other Prisoners— Ears and Scalp of the Chief Exhibited in
the Willamette Valley — The Situation after the Battle — Killed and
XU CONTENTS.
Wounded— Great Excitement in the Willamette when the News is Re-
ceived—" Oregonian " Editorials on the Situation — General Wool Con-
demned—His Opinion of the War and the People's Opinion of Him —
Governor Stevens Prefers Charges Against General Wool — Incidents At-
tending the Return of Governor Stevens from the Blackfoot Country—
The Charges of the Irate Governor Pigeon-holed— The Situation During
the Winter — Unpleasant Experiences of tlie Volunteers —Reinforcements
sent to Walla Walla — Colonel Cornelius Resumes the Offensive- Horse
Meat Causes a Mutiny— No Enemy Being Found, the Command Aban-
dons the Walla Walla Country — Farewell Courtesies of Kama-i-akun-
The Vokinteers Disband Without Official Recognition of their Services-
Honors Received from the People — Two Companies Raised to Guard the
Columbia — Refrain of the " Horse- fed Volunteer" — The Political and
Speculative Aspect of the Campaign — Governor Curry goes to Washing-
ton to Counteract the Influence of General Wool, and Secure an Appro-
priation to Defray the Expenses of the War 404
CHAPTER XXV.
Closing Scenes of the War on Rogue River.— Reorganization of the Vol-
unteers— Appointment of General Lamerick— Removal of the Table Rock
Band to the Coast Reservation— The Flag of Truce Incident — Battle of
Eight-Dollar Mountain— Campaign to Big Meadows— Battle at the Bar-
Fort Lamerick Built in Big Meadows— Massacre at Gold Beach — The Reg-
ulars Assume the Offensive — They Chastise the Indians at different Places
-Council of Oak Flat— Battle between Chief John and Captain Smith —
The Volunteers defeat Limpy and George— AU the Hostiles Surrender
and are taken to the Coast Reservation 483
CHAPTER XXVI.
The Attack on the Cascades. — Colonel Wright Assumes Command of the
Regulars— His Instructions from General Wool — He Starts for the Walla
Walla Country with a Strong Force— Fears ot an Attack on the Cascades
—The Attack is Made on the Twenty-Sixth of March, 1856— Details of the
Affair — Colonel Wright Comes to the Rescue from The Dalles, and Lieu-
tenant Sheridan from Vancouver— Indians Captured and Hanged — List
of Killed and Wounded— Intelligence of the Attack Creates Great Excite-
ment in Portland and up the Valley — Two Volunteer Companies go to
the Rescue— Paniey Rumors Distract the People— All Quiet on the Sandy 447
CHAPTER XXVII.
Campaigns of Colonels Wright, Steptoe and Shaw.— Additional De-
fenses at the Cascades— Colonel Wright Invades the Yakima Country-
He Fails to Negotiate with Kama-i-akun, and Returns to The Dalles-
Plans of Governor Stevens — He sends the Second Regiment into the Walla
Walla Country in two Battalions— Composition of the Regiment— Battle
of Grand Ronde— Battle of Burnt River— Killed and Wounded- Colonel
Shaw Averts a War with the Xez Perces -Colonel Steptoe sent to Walla
Walla to Build a Fort — His Proclamation that the Indian Treaties were
not yet in Force — Governor Stevens Invites the Tribes to Hold a Council
at Walla Walla— The Council an Unfriendly one— Lack of Harmony be-
tween Stevens and Steptoe— Stevens Attacked by the Indians and is Res-
cued by Steptoe— A Block-House Built and Garrisoned and the Troops
Return to The Dalles— Colonel Wright Leads an Expedition to Walla
Walla— He holds a Council and Arranges a Peace upon the Grounds of
CONTENTS. Xlll
Mutual Forgiveness for the "Late Unpleasantness "—Governor Stevens'
Treaties and his Opinion of Wright's Treaty— Northern Indians Invade
Puget ?ound— Erection of Fort Walla Walla— Situation of Affairs in the
Indian Country -Colonel Steptoe's Defeat in the Palouse Country— His
Disastrous Retreat South of Snake River— A Record of Heroism and
Cowardice— Colonel Wright Chastises the Indians at Medical Lake— The
Spokanes, Yakimas and Palouses Sue for Peace and Surrender Uncondi-
tionally—Hostages Taken and Twelve Indians Hung— The Walla Wallas
Tamely Submit to the Hanging of Four of their Number 455
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Aboriginal Inhabitants.— Character of the Indians of the Valley — De-
structive Influences— Sources of Indian History— Extract from Lewis
and Clarke's Narrative — Various Tribes Recounted — Their Locations —
The Klickitat Invasion— The Chinook Family— Ethnology— Habits and
Appearance — Tattooing —'Clothing— Habitations— Food— Easy Ways of
Life— Salmon Catching -Canoes— Tribal Government— Weapons— Habits
of War— Diseases and Treatment— The Vapor Bath— Disposition of Dead
Bodies— Influence of the Missions— Antiquities of Linn County— Their
Probable Origin— Indian Names of Localities— Good Taste Demands their
Perpetuation 478
CHAPTER XXIX.
History of Railways.- Primitive Ideas— Pioneer Railway Projects— Elli-
ott's Plan of a Railway from Portland to California— Incorporation of the
Astoria & Willamette R. R. Co.— Names of the Incorporators— The East
Side Railway— Ben Holladay— The Oregon Central R. R. Co.— Anecdote
— Need of Railways— The West Side R. R. Co.— A Railroad Boom in Or-
egon—Effect of the Introduction of Railways— Public Opinion— Dissolu-
tion of the Oregon Central, and Organization of the Oregon and California
Company— Officers of the New Company— River Transportation— HoUa-
day Buys a Newspaper— Its Character— Issue of Bonds of the O. & C. R.
R.— Completion of the Railway to Roseburg— Want of Economy— Cessar
tion of Railway Building— Resumption of Work in 1883— Railways Needed
in Southern Oregon— The Railroad Leased to the Oregon and Transconti-
nental Co.— The West Side Road— Holladay's Shrewdness— Portland's
Princely Gift— Progress of the West Side Road— Two Factions— Exit Hol-
laday—Land Grants-The Conqueror Appears— A Giant's Plans— Vil-
lard— The Narrow-Gauge Road— The Oregon Pacific— Railroad Lands-
Railway Officials- Concluding Remarks 491
CHAPTER XXX.
Description op the Willamette Valley.— Boundaries of the Valley— Di-
mensions — Streams — Mountains — Cascade Range — Peaks — The Minto
Pass — Coast Range — Animal Inhabitants— Trapping and Hunting-
Distances — Elevation of Places on the Willamette River— Lands — Prairie
and Timbered Lands — Those First Taken Up— Foothill Lands— Their Ina-
portance and Great Value— Brush Lands — Advantages — Location — Unoc-
cupied Lands of Value— Altitude of Vacant Lands— How Brush Lands
are Cleared— Railroad and Government Land— Amount of Vacant Land
in the Valley — Railroad Grants— Timbered Sections — Catalogue of Forest
Trees— Valuable Sorts— Trees Which Grow on Low Lands — Conjectures
Regarding the Amount of Timber now Standing — Effect of Denuding the
Land of Trees— Injurious Results Predicted— Forest Fires Produce Vast
Damage and Should be Prevented 513
XIV CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXXI.
Climate and Geology. — Peculiarities of Climate — Distinctions of the Seasons
— Particular Seasons— Table of Pleasant, Rainj'^. Stormy and Snowy Days
— Averages of Each — Tables of Maximum, Minimum and Mean Tempera-
tures and Rainfall for Thirteen Years— Table of Monthly and Annual
Mean Temperatures for Nine Localities — Geology — Dynamical Geology —
Sandstone the Prevailing Sedimentary^ Formation— It belongs to the
Tertiary Age— Newer Deposits — Erosion of Sandstone Strata— Fossils of
Tertiary Mammals— The Volcanic Rocks— Whence They Came- Enor-
mous Extent^ — Composed of Basalt — Volcanic Buttes in the Upper Part
of the Valley— Composition of the Cascade Range — Glaciers — Mines —
Santiam Gold Mines— Bohemia District — Other Minerals— Iron Ore — Im-
portant Developments at Oswego — Ore Beds Worked and Furnaces
Erected — Sketch of the Operations There — Quality of Product — Soils
Considered-Origin of Rich Basalt Soils— Their Constant Renewal — Red
Hills — Mixed Soils — Valley Loams the Result of Disintegration and Al-
luvial Action 529
CHAPTER XXXII.
Grain Products.— Wheat the Staple Production— Its Earliest Cultivation-
Impetus Given by Mining— Laxity of the State Government in the Mat-
ter of Statistics— Want of a Policy — Flour Successfully Made— Its Quality
Never Elsewhere Surpassed — Wheat Crop Never Fails — Wheat the
Principal Factor in Commercial AfTairs— Why Farmers raise Wheat-
Objections Thereto — Persistent Wheat-Raising will Impoverish the
Country— Statistics — Productiveness and Endurance of tbe Soils— Cost
per Bushel to Raise Wheat— Influence of the Railways upon Wheat-Grow-
ing—Increase of the Business from 1869— Its Probable Future— Its Possi-
ble Production— Varieties Cultivated— Wheat Crop of 1880— Other Grain
Products — Oats a Favorite Crop — Immense Production — Indian Corn not
a Success — Barley — Table of Production of Wheat, Oats, Corn and Barley 547
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Other Field Products.— Flax— Well Adapted to the Lands of the Willam-
ette— Linseed Oil — Table of Flax Production — Quality — Hops a Certain
and Valuable Crop — Table— Hay— Clover— Grasses— Vegetables— Potatoes
—Market Gardening a Profitable Industry— Table — Fruits-Apples, Pears
and Prunes the Princijial Varieties— Markets —History of Apple-Raising—
William Meek— Present Condition of Orchards— Yield of Apples— Deal-
ings with San Francisco— Mode of Culture— Fruit Drying— Importance of
the Industry— Prospective Growth— Prunes— Plums— Peaches— Future of
Fniit-Growing— Berries— Wild Species— Table Showing the Production
of Principal Varieties and Value of Orchard Products— Beet Sugar and
Potato Starch 560
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Live Stock.— The Earliest Introduction of Cattle— Cattle Brought from Cali-
fornia—Herds Brought by Immigrants— Improved Stock— Dairying—
Non-progressive Practices of the Farmers— Beef Animals— Table of Cattle
and Dairy Products— Statistics of Horses, Etc.— Sheep, Introduction of—
Brought from California and the East^-Improved Breeds— The Merino-
Domestic Animals Uncared For— Woolen Mills— Watts Leads the Way—
MiU at Oregon City— Willamette Mill at Salem— Mill at Brownsville—
CONTENTS. XV
Excellent Quality of Cloths Man4afaetured— Table of Sheep and Wool
Production — Swine — Peculiar Advantages in Pork-Raising — Animals
Neglected— Table Showing Number of Hogs and Their Value— Goats 57o
CHAPTER XXXV.
Statistics.— Scarcity of Reliable Statistical Information— Duty of the State
Government— How Performed— Tables of Production of Wheat, Indian
Corn, and Oats— Amount in Gross— Amount per Acre— Gross Value, jmd
Value per Bushel— Number and Size of Farms at Different Dates— Statis-
tics Gathered from the Census Report of 1880— Number of Farms— Of
Owners— Valuations— Industrial Establishments— County Valuation and
Assessments '^^"'>
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Review of Agriculture.— Essay Necessarily Imperfect— Policy of the Farm-
ers—Injurious Effect of Exclusive Devotion to one Crop— Farmers not In-
structed in Great Business Affairs— Theory versus Practice— Productions
of Small Farms— Size of Farms— Twenty Acres Enough -Mixed Farming
— Chances for Improvement— Conclusion 587
CHAPTER XXXVII.
History of Immigration.— Table of Population of Each County in 1850, 1860,
1870, and 1880— Comiiarison of Aggregates— Proportion of Population Be-
tween the State and the Willamette Valley— Personal History of Pioneers
and Representative Individuals 5yi
CHAPTER I.
AMEEICA IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
Spain's Foothold in the New World — -The Age of Roinance and Adven-
ture— The Method and Successive Stages of Conquest — Discovery of
the South Sea^ or Pacific Ocean^ hy Balboa and Magellan — Conquest
of Mexico and Peru — First Attempt to Colonize the Peninsula of
California — E forts of Portugal^ England and France.
DURING the fifty years immediately following the discovery of
America, Spain gained a firm and lasting foothold in the
New World. Ferdinand and Isabella, those Christian rulers who
sat upon the united tlu'one of Castile and Aragon, and freed their
kingdom from the inv^ading Moors, and redeemed it from the faith
of Islam, and under whose patronage Columbus sailed upon that
voyage which revealed to an astonished world a new continent and
a vast unknown ocean, were succeeded in power by the mighty
Charles V. Under the reign of this enlightened monarch, the most
powerful, wise and enterprising ruler that ever sat upon the throne
of Spain, that nation approached the zenith of its power, wealth
and importance in the political affairs of Em-ope. This she reached
and passed during the reign of his son and successor, the haughty
Philip, whose power and magnificence was supported chiefly fi'om
the endless stream of treasure which flowed into the kingdom from
conquered provinces in the New World, or from the commerce of
the East. There existed no rival to share with her the riches of the
long -sought Indies, save ambitious little Portugal, who had early
gained a footing there and established a considerable commerce by
the long and tedious route around the southern extremity of Africa.
18 HISTOEY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY,
Wliile other nations confined themselves to occasional voyages
of exploration and spasmodic efforts at planting feeble coloniesj
Spain was pursuing a vigorous policy of conquest and colonization.
That was the halcyon age of romance and adventure, and Spain led
the van. The whole nation seemed imbued with a spirit of con-
quest. Imagination and romance peopled this vast unknown land
\vith nations of strangle civilization and amazino; wealth; made it
the repository of gold, pearls and precious gems in such fabulous
quantity that the greatest riches of the known world seemed Init
the veriest dross in comparison; gave into its keeping the mystical
fountain of youth ; endowed it with all the beauties and wonders of
earth, air and water the mind could conceive, and even located
within its confines the Terrestrial Paradise from whose gates the
angel of the Almighty had driven the great progenitors of niankmd
with a flaming sword of fire. Beyond this was the great South
Sea, with its thousands of islands — a region romance had filled
with nations of Amazons and enriched with gold and pearls; while
still further was the Indies with its known treasures of silk and
porcelai-n; the magnificent Cathay, that land of great cities and
hoarded ^vealth, of which Marco Polo had written; and the marvel-
lous Island of Cipango, whose treasures were ready to fall into the
lap of him who was l)old enough to seek them.
Stimulated by avarice, love of adventure and a religious zeal
which often approached fanaticism, many of the nobles of Spain
embarked upon expeditions of exploration and conquest, accom-
panied l)y bands of equally avaricious, adventuresome and fanatic
soldiers, whose reward for their services consisted chiefly of the
plunder obtained in their bloody campaigns. Such expeditions
were fostered and encouraged by the Spanish monarch, who saw in
them a means of extending his power and dominions, and filling his
treasury with the supposed wealth of the New World. Whoever
discovered and con([uered a new country in the name of the king
was commissioned governor, or viceroy, of the subdued region, and
granted all riches he might thus acquire, save only that which was
to be the portion of the crown. In this way America was invaded
from Florida to Chili.
Briefly summarized, the successive steps by which Spain grasped
AMERICA IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 19
the ricliest portions of the New World were as follows: lu 1495,
only three years after the memorable voyage of Columbus, the
Island of Hayti was conquered and named " Nuevo Hispanola,"
a name afterwards transferred to Mexico. Here work was begun
in the mines, the natives being enslaved to perform the labor.
These being found physically unable to endure the hardships
imposed upon them, negroes were imported from Guinea for that
purpose, thus laying the foundation of African slavery, which the
civilization of the nineteenth century has not yet been able fully to
abolish. In 1511 the Island of Cuba was invaded by 300 men, and
conquered in the name of the king of Spain. In 1513 Vasco
Nunez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Darien and discovered the
great South Sea, of which the natives had so coniidently spoken
that it had already found a place on the maps of European geogra-
phers. Seven years later the great Magellan entered it through the
straits that bear his name, and christened it "Pacific." In 1519
Cortes landed in Mexico, and with an army of 950 soldiers and a
great cloud of Indian auxiliaries invaded the ancient kingdom of
the Montezumas. In t^vo years he completely subjugated the
country, his progress being marked by the blood of the Aztecs
poured out like water in the ^lefense. Ten years later the cruel
Pizarro, whose only object was conquest and plunder, entered Peru
with a thousand men, subdued the country and plundered the king-
dom of the Incas of its treasures of gold and silver. In 1535 Men-
doza entered Buenos Ayres at the head of 2,000 men and subjugated
the country as far as Potosi, whose famous mines of silver were
discovered nine years later. In 1537, Cortes, seeking further con-
quests to the westward of Mexico, landed at Santa Cruz, near the
lo^ver extremity of the peninsula of California, but finding neither
wealth nor civilized nations, and being unable to subsist his force
in such a barren land, soon abandoned his effort at colonization and
returned to Mexico. In 1541, Chili was conquered by the restless
adventurers of Spain.
By the middle of the sixteenth century Spain had conquered
and colonized every portion of America inhabited by wealthy and
semi -civilized nations, and was enjoying a revenue of almost fabu-
lous amount from her provinces in the New World. Portugal alone,
of all lier rivals, had accomplished anything of a similar nature,
20 HISTOKY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
having planted a colony in Brazil. England and France had suc-
ceeded simply in laying a foundation for a claim of dominion in
North America, l^ut, unlike their enterprising rival, received as yet
no revenue from the New World. Such was the condition of affairs
when the first efforts were made to explore the coast of Oregon.
CHAPTER 11.
THE FABULOUS STRAITS OF ANIAN.
Cortereal Discovers the Straits of Labrador — Imagines he has i^assed
through Novus Mundus — Yasco de Gama reaches India by doubling
the Cape of Good Hope — Naming of the Straits of Anian by Cor-
tereal— Magellan''s Discovery of a Southwest Passage Confirms the
Belief in a Northwest one — Explorations of Cortes in the Pacific —
Voyage of Francisco de Ulloa — Mendoza Dispatches Alarcon and
Coronado in Search of Cibola and Quivira — Voyage of Juan
Rodrigtiez Cabrillo—His Death — Ferrelo Continues the Voyage to
Latitude ^" or J^JfP Spain Abandons the Search for the Straits of
Anian and Turns her Attention to the Indies— Spanish Commerce
Supreme in the Pacific — Her Claim of Exclusive Domain — The
Buccaneers^ or Freebooters of the 8p>anish Main, Invade the Pacific —
Piratical Voyage of Sir Francis Drake — He Searches for the Straits
of Anian — Dispute among Historians as to the Extent of his Voy-
age— Drake Lands his Pilot in Oregon — Drake's Bay not the Bay of
San Francisco — Drake Takes Possession of New Albimi — Rom,ances
of Chaplain Fletcher — Drake^s Success Excites the Emulation of
other Adventurers — Fraudulent Claims of Discovery of a Northwest
Passage — Maldonado's Pretended Voyage through the Straits of
Anian — His Memorial a Sham.
THE immediate cause whicli led to tlie discovery and consequent
occupation of Oregon was tlie long and eager search for the
mythical Northwest Passage, which continued for nearly three cen-
turies, and was pai-ticipated in by seven of the leading nations of the
world, England, France, Holland, Spain, Portugal, Russia and the
United States; and since it makes so conspicuous an object in the
foreground of Oregon's history, it is worthy an extended descrip-
tion.
22 HISTOKY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
One of the most noted of the many explorers attracted to the
New Worhl by the great discovery of Cohimbus, was Gaspar Cor-
tereal, a Portuguese. In the year 1500 this great navigator explored
the Atlantic coast of North America — then called "Novus Mun-
dus," and supposed to l)e a portion of the continent of Asia, extend-
ing a long distance to the eastward — and sailing round the coast of
Labrador entered the straits which lie in the 60th degree north lat-
itude. Through these he passed into Hudson's Bay, supposing he
had now entered waters which communicated with the Indian ocean.
Absurd as this supposition is in the light of our present knowledge
of the earth's surface, it was by no means so when the geograpical
ideas and theories prevailing at that time are considered. It must
be remembered that eight years had not yet passed since the voyage
of Columbus had compelled the world to accept the theory which he
and a few others had for years been enthusiastically adv^ocating —
that the earth was round and could be encomj)assed by traveling
either east or west. Though this was now generally admitted, no
one had ever actually accomplished the journey, and, in consequence,
the distance round the globe was a matter simply of conjecture.
That it was more than half the distance it was afterwards found to
be, no one at that time imagined ; and this accounts for the belief
that Novus Mundus was a portion of Asia, of whose eastern coast
geographers had no knowledge whatever, and for the supposition
of Cortereal that he had passed through this new land and entered
a sea connecting with the Indian Ocean, when, in fact, he was not
mthin ten thousand miles of that great body of water. Two years-
before, one of these Portuguese navigators, Vasco de Gama, had
reached the Indian Ocean by sailing eastward around the Cape of
Good Hope, a voyage historians believe to have been frequently
accomplished in ancient days by those venturesome mariners, the
Phoenicians; and now Cortereal believed that he had found a route
into the same waters by passing around the northern extremity of
the New World.
To the straits through which he had passed he gave the name
of " Anian," and the land to the south of them he called Labrador,
and these were variously indicated on the subsequent maps as
" Straits of Anian," " Straits of Cortereal," " Straits of Labrador,"
" Land of Cortereal," and " Land of Labrador." The exact sig-
THE FABULOUS STRAITS OF ANIAN. 23
nificance of the word " Aniaii " is generally admitted to be un-
known, altliongli it has been tlie subject of much dispute. By some
it was claimed to have been derived from the Japanese word Ani,
meaning " brother," and to have been applied to these straits because
Cortereal believed them to separate Asia and Novus Mundus, which
stood on opposite sides in bri^therly conjunction; but as Japan was
at that time utterly unknown— unless, indeed, it was that wonder-
ful Island of Cipango, of whose fal)ulous riches such extravagant
expectations had })een created, — Cortereal can hardly be assumed
to have been sufficient! 3" familiar with the language to employ it
in bestowing names to the exclusion of his native tongue, and
especially to the ignoring of that long list of saints which furnished
such an inexhaustible supply of names for the devout Spanish and
Portuguese explorers, lying as thick upon the map of America as
pin holes in an old paper pattern.
A few years later the ideas of geographers in regard to the size
of the world began to expand, and with the discovery of the South
Sea all belief in the proximity of the Atlantic to i\w Indian Ocean
vanished. In 1820, Magellan, another Portuguese mariner, but
sailing under the flag of Spain, entered the South Sea through the
straits which bear his name, and bestowed the name " Pacific " upon
it. The voyage was continued westward until the world had been
circiunnavigated, and an approximate idea of the distance around
it was thus gained by geographers. Belief was immediately revived
in the Straits of Anian. It was. then supposed that Cortereal's
passage led from the Atlantic into the South Sea, of whose immen-
sity the world had 1)ecome deeply impressed, since Magellan had
traversed it in its broadest part. If the North American continent
narrowed northward as South America had been found to do in the
opposite direction, then it must be but a short distance from the
Atlantic to the Pacific in the region of Labrador; and since a pas-
sage had l:)een found through the land to the south — for in their
ignorance of the open sea l)elow South America, geographers believed
Magellan's Straits to l)e simply a nai'row waterway piercing the
heart of the continent where it was much narrower than elsewhere —
it was reason a]>le to suppose that a similar one existed to the north,
especially since Cortereal had reported finding it. To discover this
northwest passage was the desire of explorers for many years there-
24 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
after. England, France and Portugal, and Holland in later years,
sou2;lit it in the Atlantic, while Spain put forth her efforts to attain
the same object in the Pacific. To the efforts made in the latter
direction this narrative will be chieily confined, since to them is due
the discovery of Oregon and the complete exploration of the Pacific
Coast.
When Cortez had subjugated Mexico he at once began con-
structing vessels on the western coast of Central America for service
in the Pacific. He possessed a roving commission from his sover-
eign, the powerful Charles V., which granted him almost despotic
powers as a ruler in all new countries he might discover and sub-
due in the name of the king, the conquests to be made at his own
expense and risk, and the expeditions to be fitted out from his own
resources. To follow his movements in detail is unnecessary. They
resulted in the discovery and temporary colonization of Lower Cal-
ifornia, the discovery of the Colorado River, and the knowledge that
the Sea of Cortes, or the Vermilion Sea, w^as a gulf, the one now
known as the " Gulf of California."
It had been the plan of Cortes to coast northward, westward and
southward, along America and Asia, until he reached the Indies,
noting the exact position of the Straits of Anian as he passed ; but
the vessels he had constructed for that purpose were ordered to be
sent in a direct path across the Pacific, and he was compelled to l)uild
others. It was with these that his expeditions along the Mexican
Coast and in Lower California were conducted. The first attempt
to pass around the southern extremity of the Peninsula of Califor-
nia and follow the outer coast northward was made in 1539. On
the twenty-ninth of October of that year Francisco de Ulloa, who
had been the energetic assistant of the great conquesitador in all
his operations on the western coast of Mexico, sailed from the bay
of Santa Cruz, the scene of Cortes' disastrous attempt at coloniza-
tion in Lower California, and passed around the cape now^ known
as " San Lucas." On the first of February he had proceeded as far
north as 28°, when he encountered an island near the coast which he
christened " Isle of Cedars." For two months he was baffled by
head winds and contended with sickness among his crew, afflicted
with that dread malady the scurvy, the scourge of the early mariners,
who neither understood its nature nor knew how to prevent or cure
THE FABULOUS STRAITS OF ANIAN, 25
it. Tlie sickness unabating and his stock of provisions beginning
to run short, Ulloa abandoned the effort to progress further and
returned to Mexico.
No immediate attempt "was made to continue the explorations
thus begun by Ulloa. The fact was that Don Antonio de Mendoza,
a Sj)anish nobleman of high rank, who had succeeded Cortes as
Viceroy of New Spain, was deeply interested in exploring the inte-
rior to the northward, in search of a mythical country called
" Cibola," and another named " Quivira," stories of whose wonder-
ful richness had been received from wandering refugees, who claimed
to have seen them or been informed of their existence by the Indians.
Two expeditions were sent out to accomplish this purpose. One
under Fernando de Alarcon ascended the Colorado a distance of
300 miles without observing anything suggestive of civilized nations;
while Francisco Vasquez de Caronado was equally unsuccessful in
a land journey which took him as far north as 40°, and extended
over two years of time.
Even before Coronado returned from following the ignis fahms
of Quivira, Mendoza disj)atched an expedition by sea to search for
the Straits of Anian, and incidentally to discover any of those civ-
ilized nations which Indian tradition and Caucasian imagination
located further to the northwest. This fleet consisted of two small
vessels, commanded by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, and sailed in the
year 1542. Cabrillo followed the coast as far north as latitude 38*^,
when he encountered a violent storm which drove him many miles
backward. From this he found shelter in a small harbor in the
Island of San Bernardino, lying near the coast in latitude 34°,
which he christened " Port Possession," being the first point on the
California coast of which the Spaniards took possession. While
the vessels were lying in this harbor, Cabrillo died, on the third of
January, 1543, and the command devolved upon Bartolome Ferrelo,
the pilot, as the second in power upon the Spanish vessels was des-
ignated at that time. This position was always occupied by an
experienced seaman, as it fi'equently happened that the commander
of the expedition was not a practical navigator; and this partially
accounts for the fact that but little accurate knowledge was gained
by Spanish explorers, who took but few observations and kept
exceedingly poor records, so much so, in fact, that after half a dozen
26 IlISTOItY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
voyages of exploration they were imaljle to trace the contour of the
coast line upon the map with even an approach to accuracy.
Upon assuming command of the expedition, Ferrelo again
headed the vessels to the northward. Near latitude 41*^ he discov-
ered a prominent headland on a rocky and forbidding coast, which
he named Cabo de Fortunas, the " Cape of Perils," and which is
probably the one subsequently christened " Mendocino," in honor
of the Mexican Viceroy, Mendoza, who had dispatched the expedi-
tion. On the first of March, 1543, Ferrelo reached the farthest
point to the northward, which is given by some authorities as lati-
tude 44°, and by others as 48°. Othei' historians, including Ban-
croft, do not accord him evyn so high a latitude as 43°. The con-
flict arises from the careless and meagre records above referred to.
However, it makes but little difference, as he progressed as far as
Rogue River, and possil^ly to the Ump(j[ua, and can safely ])e cred-
ited with the discovery of Oregon, so far as sailing along its coast
without making a landing, or even drawing a chart of its outline,
may be considered to constitute a discovery. Lack of provisions
and the ravages of the dreaded scurvy among his crew compelled
Ferrelo to abandon the effort to proceed further and return to
Mexico.
The return of Ferrelo without having discovered the m}i;hical
straits or the equally visionary cities and wealthy nations, reports
of which had attracted the cupidity of the Spanish adventurers,
following close upon Alarcon's fruitless voyage up the Colorado,
and Coronado's wild-goose chase in search of Qvdvira, and com-
bined with the report of the survivors of DeSoto's unfortunate
expedition to the Mississippi, satisfied the Spanish authorities in the
New World that neither wealthy nations nor navigable passages of
communicati(^n between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, were to be
found north of Mexico, unless beyond the 40th parallel of latitude.
With this conclusion they abandoned all effort to explore the country
to the northward, and turned their attention to more remunerative
ventures across the Pacific to the Indies.
By this time Portugal had establislied a large and immensely
profitable commerce with the Indies, by following the long route
around the Cape of Good Hope. Spain viewed this with jealous
eye, notwithstanding the en(>rmous revenue she was already receiv-
THE FABULOUS STKAITS OP^ ANIAN. 27
ing from her possessions in the New World, and put forth great
exertions to secure a footing for herself in the Indies. Several nn-
successfid expeditions were dispatched across the Pacific from Mex-
ico, but, finally, in 1564, the Philippine Islands were subdued and
taken possession of in the name of the Spanish monarch. In a few
years an enormous revenue was derived from this new dependency.
Her possessions in America formed not only an intermediate station
as a basis of operations, bnt furnished, also, the gold and silver
with which to purchase the silks, porcelain and spices of the Orient.
No other nation possessed such facilities for commerce in the Pacific,
and no flag but that of Spain fluttered in the trade winds that sweep
steadily across that mighty ocean. Not a ship of war cruised on
its broad expanse to guard the commerce from hostile fleets. An-
nually the galleons sailed from Mexico with gold and silver, and
returned laden with the precious products of the East, which were
transported across the isthmus to ships waiting to carry them to the
mother country. The monarch of that powerful nation was the
personification of arrogance. Over all lands even technically dis-
covered by his subjects he claimed dominion and the exclusive right
of trade, even if no settlement of any kind had been attempted.
Foreigners of all nations were prohibited, under pain of death, from
having any intercourse whatever with such territories, or from nav-
igating the adjacent waters.
Spain was frequently involved in hostilities with her European
neighbors, the great revenue derived from her possessions in the
New World and her commerce with the Indies furnishing her the
" sinews of war." Much as they desired it, her enemies were unable
to attack her in this most vital part. Cargo after cargo crossed the
Pacific and not a hostile sail was to be seen on the bosom of the
ocean. On the Atlantic side, however, things wore a different aspect.
Armed fleets were necessary to protect her merchantmen from the
men of war sent out to cut them off in times of national disputes,
and from the piratical crafts that infested the West Indies at all
seasons. These "freebooters," or " buccanners," plied their pirati-
cal calling even in times of peace, with the full knowledge and even
encouragement of their sovereigns. They sought diligently for the
Northwest Passage. If they could only find some route into the
Pacific other than the dangerous one by way of the Straits of Ma-
28 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.'
gellan, they could prey to their hearts' content upon the unprotected
commerce of that ocean. They well knew the value of the cargoes
carried in the unarmed galleons fi'om the Philippines. At last,
unable to find the Straits of Anian, they invaded the Pacific by the
dreaded Straits of Magellan, and the security of Spanish shipping
in the South Sea vanished forever.
The pioneer of this plundering l)and was Francis Di'ake, an
English seaman of much renown, a daring spirit and expert mari-
ner. With three vessels he thus passed into the Pacific upon a mis-
sion of plunder. One of these was wrecked soon after passing
through the straits, another returned to England, while with his
one remaining ship Drake sailed up the coast, scattering terror and
devastation among the Spanish shipping, and levying contributions
in the defenceless ports. The East India galleon, with its precious
cargo, fell into his hands off the California coast, and then, with his
vessel loaded with plunder, he sailed northward to search for the
Straits of Anian, intending to pass through them into the Atlantic
and thus reach England by a new route. By doing this he would
avoid a coml^at with a Spanish fleet which he had every reason to
expect would be lying in wait for him at the Straits of Magellan.
He failed utterly to find any such passage, though how thoroughly
he searched the coast is unknown ; and even the extent of his voyage
to the north is a matter of much dispute. By some authorities it
is given as latitude 43°, and by others at 48^. To this latter opin-
ion all English writers hold, while American historians favor the
former, and the reason for adopting their separate opinions is not
such an one as should actuate the true historian. If Drake did not
proceed beyond latitude 43°, then he made no further pi'ogress north
than did the Spaniard Ferrelo, thirty-five years before, and was not
entitled to the honor of discovering any new region on the Pacific
coast. In that event England's claim to Oregon, l:)y right of dis-
covery, was without foundation, since prior to any subsequent
English voyage along the coast, several Spanish expeditions coasted
its whole length as far as Alaska. If he reached latitude 48°, on
the contrary, England's title l)y right of discovery was undeniable.
Such being the case, and the Spanish title to Oregon having been
acquired by the United States by purchase and treaty, the reason
for the historians of the two countries espousing different sides,
THE FABULOUS STRAITS OF ANIAT^. 29
without much reference to the truth of the matter, can be readily
perceived.
Two accounts of the voyage were published, thus furnishing the
foundation for the controversy, and neither of these narratives bears
either internal or external evidence of complete relial:)ility. There
may well be a difference of opinion, but the fact that this difference
is drawn on national lines is suggestive of bias and a lack of those
qualities which mark the true historian. One of them was pub-
lished by Richard Hakluyt, the celebrated geographer of those times,
in a volume embodying the results of all previous voyages of ex-
ploration, and is said to be the production of Francis Pretty, one
of Drake's crew ; though English authors claim it to have been
written by Hakluyt himself from accounts of the voyage related to
him some time before, and thus subject to grievous errors. The
other account is one which was published by a nephew of Drake,
seventy years after the voyage was completed, and long after every
soul who had participated in it had passed to his final account; thus
there was no living witness who could dispute the wildest and most
reckless statement the compiler might be led to make in his eager-
ness to establish his relative's position as discoverer of New Albion,
the name Drake had bestowed upon California. The notes used in
preparing this volume were credited to Rev. Fletcher, the chaplain
of the expedition, and it must be said that in some respects he was
the most magnificent liar that ever undertook to deceive an audience
a)>solutely ignorant of the subject with which he dealt. The regions
visited were entirely unknown, since no information was gained by
Ferrelo's voyage, and the world was prepared to believe anything
of this region, of which new wonders were constantly being revealed.
Rev. Fletcher seems to have realized this, and improved his oppor-
tunity; yet the fact that his notes contain what are known to be
Avnllful misstatements, is not proof that in this one instance he was
not correct, or that his notes were altered by the compiler to read
48° instead of 43°. This want of veracity is, of course, a presimip-
tion against his statement in this particular; but it will requii'e
something more authentic than the alleged narrative of Francis
Pretty to establish their inaccuracy beyond dispute. When the
whole matter is reviewed impartially, the mind naturally leans to-
ward the theory of 43 degrees, without, however, feeling completely
30 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
satisfied tliat it is the true one. In the nature of things this con-
troversy can never be settled, and Drake and Ferrelo will ever bear
the divided honor of the discovery of Oregon.
Drake's presence on the coast of Oregon, near the forty-third
parallel, is proven by Spanish records, which contain a piece of
information not to be found in either of the narratives mentioned
above. From this it appears that he had on board a Spanish pilot,
named Morera, with whom he felt dissatisfied for some reason, and
in the region indicated he ran into a " poor harbor " and put the
offending seaman ashore, leaving him among savages, thirty-five
hundred miles fi'om civilization. That he accomplished the journey
across that unknown land and reached his countrymen in Mexico is
evidenced by the fact that the incident is recorded at all, since other-
wise it could never have been known. Having been forced back
along the coast by adverse winds, he entered a small bay near lati-
tude 38°, whei'e he cast anchor for thirty-six days. It was, until
recent times, supposed that this harbor was San Francisco Bay, the
name helping to support the idea with the unthinking. Later on
it will be seen that the bay was thus named in honor of an entirely
different personage. Sir Francis Drake was the reverse of a saint
in Spanish eyes, and even had they named it in his honor they
would have been certain to associate with his name some title more
in harmony with their estimation of his character. Drake was in
search of the Straits of Anian, and that he lay thirty-six days in
San Francisco Bay without even attempting to explore the connect-
ing bays of San Pablo and Suisun, and the great navigable rivers
discharging into them, is so manifestly improbable as to be beyond
credence. There is no positive testimony to support the idea, and
the contrary is proven as nearly as purely negative testimony can
prove anything. It is generally conceded by historians that Drake's
harbor of refuge was the one lying just north of the Golden Gate
and known as " Drake's Bay." It is in speaking of this place that
Chaplain Fletcher displays his abilities as a romancer. The time
was the month of June, and yet he states that snow covered the
hills and that the weather was so cold that meat froze upon being
taken fi'om the fire. One familiar with the fact that snow is a
rarity there even in winter, and that at no time does it become cold
THE FABULOUS STEAITS OF ANIAN. 31
enough to freeze meat that has never been near a fire, has his confi-
dence in the veracity of the chronicler terribly shaken.
While lying in the harbor Drake landed and took possession of
the country in the name of his sovereign, christening it "New Al-
bion," in honor of his native land. Fletclier's narrative states that
the natives first mistook them for gods and offered sacrifices to them,
and that they removed this impression Ijy themselves publically
offering up their devotions to the Creator. Of the incidents of their
landing the narrative says:—
Oiu- necessarie business being ended, our Greneral, with his companie, travailed
up into the countrey to tlieir villiages, where we found heardes of deere by 1,000 in
a companie, being most large and fat of bodie. We found the whole countroy to be
a warren of strange kinde of connies ; their bodies in bigness as be the Barbarie
Connies, their heads as the heads of ours, the feet of a Want [mole] and the taile of
a rat, being of great length ; under her chinne on either side a bagge, into which
she gathered her meate, when she hath filled her bellie abroad. The people do eat
their bodies, and make aceompt for their skinnes, for their King's coat was made
out of them. Our General called this countrey Nova Albion, and that for two
causes: the one in respect to the white bankes and cliffes which lie toward the sea ;
and the other because it might have some affinitie with our countrey in name
which sometimes was so called.
There is no part of earth here to be taken up, wherein there is not a reasonable
qaantitie of gold or silver. Before sailing away, our General set up a monument of
our being there, as also of her majestie's right and title to the same, viz.: a plate
nailed upon a faire great poste, whereupon was engraved her majestie's name, the
day and yeare of our arrival there, with the free giving up of the province and peo-
ple into her majestie's hands, together with her highness' picture and arms, in a
piece of five pence of current English money under the plate, whereunder was also
written the name of our General.
What the worthy Chaplain considered a " reasonable quantitie "
of the precious metals it is impossible to conjecture, but the proba-
bilities are that he manufactured this statement fi'om whole cloth.
The earliest authentic accounts of the Indians of California do not
speak of them as possessing any gold or silver^ and it was many
years after the Spaniards took possession of the State before gold
was discovered and mined. At that time the natives were com-
pletely ignorant of the character and value of the substance, and
had no traditions on the subject ; from which may reasonably be
concluded that Chaplain Fletcher deliberately lied when he made
that assertion — the more so, that even to the present time no gold
has been discovered in the locality of which he speaks. It will be
remeinl)ered that a few years before, when America was first dis-
covered, it was the general belief that it was speckled with gold
32 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
and silver, and "glistened with gems. These extravagant ideas had
become modified in Drake's time, though by no means abandoned.
The Spaniards had been searching a few years before in this direc-
tion for wealthy nations, whose existence was reported to them by
' the Indians of Mexico, but without success. They still entertained
the belief that pearls and the precious metals could be found in
abundance in this region, and Fletcher was simply supplying a
" long felt want " when he wrote that a " reasonable quantitie of
gold and silver " existed in every handful of dirt that might be
taken up at random on the California coast. His other statements
are probably correct, since ground squirrels exist in such abundance,
there and are so destructive to crops that the state granted a bounty
for their extermination, and the early pioneers speak of immense
bands of antelope and elk that roamed the valley and foot-hills.
Having abandoned the hope of finding a passage into the At-
lantic, and fearing to attempt to return by the Sti-aits of Magellan,
Drake undertook the long voyage across the Pacific, and reached
England by weathering the Cape of Good Hope. His return with
his vessel loaded with plundered riches of the Spaniards was hailed
with joy by his countrymen. The interests of Spain and England
were hostile. The latter looked with jealousy and fear upon the
power of the Castilian throne, sustained by the enormous revenue
derived fi*om America and the Indies, and Queen Elizabeth knighted
the daring robber for his services to. his country in striking such a
severe blow at the resources of her rival. Ten years later, when
the grand Philip sent that wonderful Spanish Armada, which was
fitted out by revenues derived fi-om this same commerce and was to
crush England at a blow, one of the gallant fleets which met and
defeated it was commanded by Sir Francis Drake.
Other English fi'eebooters, encouraged by the brilliant success
of Drake, entered the Pacific in the same -manner and preyed upon
the Spanish shipping. The first and most successful of these was
Thomas Cavendish, who voyaged the coasts of Chili, Peru and
Mexico in 1587; sunk and burned nineteen vessels, and captured
the galleon Santa Anna off the coast of California. The next year
he returned to England by the Cape of Good Hope, having accom-
plished the third circumnavigation of the globe, and it is said that
THE FABULOUS STRAITS OF ANIAIS^ 33
his crew were dressed in silks, his sails made of damask, and the
topmast covered with cloth of gold.
Great exertions were now made by the English and Dutch to
find the Northwest Passage, and frequent rumors were spread that
the Straits of Anian had actually been discovered, creating much
joy in England and Holland, and causing great anxiety in Spain,
Spanish America and the Philippines. Many claims were made to
having made this discovery by parties who could not substantiate
them. This was done for various reasons. Some enjoyed the noto-
riety and fame, as a great na\dgator, such reports brought them;
others endeavored to secure a reward for their alleged serxdces to
their country, and still others hoped to thus win employment in their
business, or receive the command of an expedition to locate definitely
the position of the passage. So frequent were these tales, and
so much at variance with each other, that they all fell into disrepute,,
and it is doubtful had such a strait been actualh' found if geogra-
})hers could have been brought to believe it. The fiction of this
character which attracted the most attention and which had the most
influence in dictating the chai'acter of expeditions in after years,
was one made by Captain Lorenzo Ferrer de Maldonado, a Portu-
guese. In 1609 this gentleman presented a petition to the Spanish
Coimcil of the Indies — that august body which, sitting in Spain,
ruled the Spanish possessions in India and Amei'ica — asking for a
suita1)le reward for his services, and the command of a Spanish expe-
dition to take possession of the sti'aits and fortify^ them against the
passage of ships of any other nation.
The voyage upon which Maldonado based his claim he asserted
to have been made twenty-one years before, in 1588. By this time
it was conceded that the distance fi-om the Atlantic to the Pacific,
in the northern regions, was greater than it was formerly supposed
to be, and this led Maldonado to locate the Straits of Anian far to
the westward of those thus christened by Cortereal. This latter
passage he placed as far north as latitude 75^, instead of eO"*, their
true location as given by Cortereal himself. His narrative asserted
that the vessel passed through a long and tortuous channel in the
seventy-fifth parallel, into the " North Sea," an entirely unknown
body of water at that time, but which corresponds in location to the
Arctic Ocean, which, however, has no such passage leading into it,
34 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
and which is utterly uunavigable by reason of its vast fields of ice.
Across this North Sea he sailed in a southwestei'ly direction a dis-
tance of 7V)() leagues (about 3,000 miles), when he came upon the
Straits of Anian, leading directly south into the South Sea. This
wondei'ful passage he thus describes: —
Having cleared the Strait of Labrador, we began to descend from that latitude,
steering west-southwest and southwest, three hundred and fifty leagues, to the 71st
degree of latitude, when we perceived a high coast, without being able to tell
whether it was part of the continent or an island ; but we remarked that, if it were
the continent, it must be opposite the coast of New Spain. From this land we
directed our course w^est-soutlnvest, four hundred and forty leagues, until we came
to the 60th degree, in which parallel we discovered the Strait of Anian. * * * *
The strait which we disco\ ered in 60°, at the distance of one thousand seven
hundred and ten leagues from Spain, appears, Recording to ancient tradition, to be
that named by geographers, in their maps, the Strait of Anian ; and, if it be so, it
must be a strait having Asia on the one side, and America on the other, which
seems to be the case, according to the following narrative :—" As soon as we had
cleai-ed the strait, we coasted along the shores of America for more than one hundred
leagues southwestward, to the o5th degree of latitude, on which coast there were no
inhabitants, or any opening indicating the vicinity of another strait, through which
the South Sea, flowing into the North, might insulate that part: and we concluded
that all that coast belonged to America, and that continuing along it, we might soon
reach the Quivira and Cape Mendocino. We then left this coast and, sailing to-
wards the west four days, we discovered a very high land, and continued along the
coast, from which we kept at a safe distance, always in the open sea -sailing, at one
time, to the northeast, at others- towards the north-northeast, and again to the
north, whence it seemed to us that the coast ran northeast and southwest.
" We were unable to mark any particular points, on account of our distance from
land; and we can, therefore, only aflfirm that it is inhabited, nearly to the entrance
of the strait, as we saw smoke rising up in many places. This country, according
to the charts, must belong to Tartary, or Cathaia (China), and at a distance of a few
leagues from the coast must be the famed city of Cambula, the metropolis of Tar-
tary. Finally, having followed the direction of this coast, we found ourselves at
the entrance of the same Strait of Anian, which, fifteen days before, we had passed
through to the open sea ; this we knew to be the South Sea, where are situated
Japan, China, the Mouluccas, India, New Guinea, and the land discovered by Cap-
tain Quiros, with all the coast of New Spain and Peru. *****
"The Strait of Anian is fifteen leagues in length, and can easily be passed with a
tide lasting six hours, for those tides are very rapid. There are, in this length, six
turns, and two entrances, which lie north and south ; that is, bear from each other
north and south. The entrance on the north side (through which we passed) is less
than half a quarter of a league in width, and on each side are ridges of high rocks ;
but the rock on the side of Asia is higher and steeper than on the other, and hangs
over, so that nothing falling from the tops can reach its base. The entrance into
the South Sea, near the harbor, is more than a quarter of a league in width, and
thence the passage runs in an oblique direction, increasing the distance between
the two coasts. In the middle of the strait, at the termination of the third turn, is
a great rock, and an inlet, formed by a rugged rock, three estadias (about one thou-
sand one hundred feet) in height, more or less; its form is round, and its diameter
may be two hundred paces ; its distance from the laud of Asia is very little ; but the
THE FABULOUS STRAITS OF ANIAN, 85
sea on that side is full of shoals and reefs, and can be only navigated by boats. The
distance between this inlet and the continent of America is less than a quarter of a
league in width, and, although its channel is so deep that two or even three ships
sail abreast through it, two bastions might be built on the banks with little trouble,
which would contract the channel to within the reach of a musket shot.
" In the harbor in which our ships anchored, at the entrance of the strait, on the
south side, we lay from the beginning of April to the middle of June, when a large
vessel of eight hundred tons burden came there from the South 8ea, in order to pass
the strait. Upon this we put ourselves on our guard ; but, having come to an under-
standing with her, I found them willing to give us some of their merchandise, the
greater part of which consisted of articles similar to those manufactured in China,
such as brocades, silks, porcelain, feathers, precious stones, pearls, and gold. These
people seemed to be Hanseatics, who inhabit the bay of St. Nicholas, or the port of
St. Michael (Archangel, on the White Sea). In order to understand one another
we were forced to speak Latin— those of our party who understood that language
talking with those on board the ship who were also acquainted with it. They did.,not
seem to be Catholics, but Lutherans. They said they came from a large city more
than one hundred leagues from the strait, and though I can not exactly remember
its name, I think they called it Rohr, or some such name, which they said had a
good harbor and a navigable river, and was subject to the great khan, as it belonged
to Tartary ; and that in that port they left another ship belonging to their country.
We could learn no more from them, as they acted with great caution and little con-
fidence, being afraid of our company ; wherefore we parted from them near the
strait, in the North Sea, and set sail towards Spain." ^ ^ O Q r* o O
It is barely possible that a voyage may have 1 )een made about
the time mentioned in the memoi'ial, during which the vessel entered
Hudson's Bay, and that Maldonado was a seaman or sub -officer on
board, which would account for his ignorance on such technical
points as the degrees of latitude and number of miles sailed, and that
two decades later, when his superior officers were dead and he him-
self had risen in rank, he desii'ed the command of an expedition to
search for these straits in whose existence he firmly believed, and
which he claimed to have seen simply to lend weight to his petition.
This, however, is improbable, and it is more than likely that the
whole narrative was a fabrication. Diligent search among Spanish
and Portuguese records of those times has failed to reveal any indi-
cation of such a voyage, or any coniii'matory evidence whatever,
other than the memorial itself. At that time (1588) Spain and
England were al)Sorbed in the conflict over the Spanish Armada,
yet it is doubtful if that is a sufficient reason for the omission to
record in any manner such a voyage as the one thus descril^ed by
Maldonado.
The evidences against the genuineness of the narrative are almost
convincing, even when considered without reference to the fact that
36 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
it is now evident no such passage exists. In his narrative, which
was unnsually precise and careful in its details, Maldonado gave all
the geographical ideas of the time in regard to the regions that
Avonld natnrall y 1 )e visited ; and this very fact is sti'ongly presumptive
e\idence that the voyage w^as a fiction, as these theories, so carefully
foHo^N'ed, have neai'ly all l)een found to 1)e false. Even the minute-
nes.s of detail is suspicious, since it is cliiefiy the inaccurate records,
clumsy narratives, and " yarns " flomng fi'om the fertile imagina-
tion of the sea rovers, to which many of the erroneous, and even
ludicrous, ideas of those times are directly chargeable. No such
carefidiiess in statement characterized the narrative of any prior or
contemj)orary voyage, and this was the first one claiming to have
acc()ni])lished so nmch, which did not sadly mar the maps of theo-
retical geograi)hei'S. Its read}'-made appearance was sufficient to
cause its entire rejection by the Council of the Indies.
In after }ears, ho^vevei-, two copies of this memorial, of the ex-
istence of which the ^vorld was ignorant, were foimd among ancient
records at different places, each one purporting to be the original
document. They created great excitement, and, as \vi\\ he seen
later, had nnich to do with the shaping of explorations for a century
thereafter. As late as 1790, when the heated c(mtroversy over the
Nootka aifair seemed about to plunge England and Spain into war,
the question of the authenticity of Maldonado's narrative was gravely
discussed, and a last thorough search was made in Spain and Por-
tugal foi- confirmative evidence, which was as fi'uitless as had been
all previous efforts. With the end of that controversy Maldonado's
mythical straits disappeared forever from the plane of active history
and took its propei- place in the dimiain of romance.
CHAPTER III.
THE STRAITS OF JUAN DE FUCA AND THE RIVER OF KINGS.
Narrative of Michael Locl\ the Elder — ■Story of Juan de Fuca, as told
by Loci' — Description of the Straits of Fuca — Controversy among
Historians over Fucci's alleged Voyage — Both Sides Carefully Con-
sidered— Prohahly a Myth — Admiral F antes alleged Voyage — The
River of Kings — Its Absurdity Pointed Out.
THERE i^< still another somewhat mythical voyage associated
mth this search for the Straits of Aniaii, \\'hich has played a
most important part in the history of Oregon ; and though it comes
entirely through English sources, is utterly repudiated by modern
English historians, and even receives but little credence among
American -sn-itei's. This is the celebrated voyage of Juan de Fuca,
who is claimed to have discovered the Straits of Fuca, that broad
channel separating a portion of Washington Territory fi'om Van-
cover Island, in British Columbia.
There was published in London, in 1625, a cele])rated historical
and geographical work, edited by Samuel Purchas, which bore the
odd title of " The Pilgrims." Among other things, this volume con-
tained " A note l)y Michael Lock, the elder, touching the Strait of
Sea, commonly called P" return Anian, in the South Sea, through the
Northwest Passage of Meta Incognita." The most important por-
tion of this alleged document of Mr. Lock is as follows: —
When I was in Venice, in April, 1596, haply arrived there an old man, about
sixty years of age, called, commonly, .luan de Fuca, but named properly Apostolas
Valerianus, of nation a Greek, born in Cephalonia, of profession a mariner, and an
ancient pilot of ships. This man, being come lately out of Spain, arrived first at
Leghorn, and went thence to Florence, where he found one John Douglas, an En-
glishman, a famous mariner, ready coming from Venice, to be pilot of a Venetian
ship for England, in whose company they came both together to \'enice. And
John Douglas being acquainted with me before, he gave me knowledge of this
38 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY,
Graek pilot, and brought him to my speech ; and in long talks and conference be-
tween us, in presence of John Douglas, this Greek pilot declared, in the Italian and
Spanish languages, this much in effect as followeth : Plrst, he said he had been in
the West Indies of Spain forty years, and had sailed to and from many places
thereof, in the service of the Spaniards. Also, he said that he was in the Spanish
ship, which, in returning from the Islands Philippines, towards Nova Spania, was
robbed and taken at the Cape California by Captain Candish, Englishman, whereby
he lost 60,000 ducats of his goods. Also, he said that he was pilot of three small
ships which the Viceroy of Mexico sent from Mexico, armed with 100 men, under
a captain, Spaniards, to discover the Straits of Anian, along the coast of the South
Sea, and to fortify in that strait, to resist the passage and proceedings of the English
nation, which were forced to pass through those straits into the South Sea; and
that, by reason of a nuitiny which happened among the soldiers for the misconduct
of their captain, that voyage was overthrown, and the ship returned from Califor-
nia to Nova Spania, without anything done in that voyage ; and that, after their
return, the captain was at Mexico punished by justice. Also, he said that, shortly
after the said voyage was so ill-ended, the said Viceroy of Mexico sent him out
again, in 1592, witli a small caravel and a pinnace, armed with mariners only, to
follow the said voyage for the discovery of the Straits of Anian, and the passage
thereof into the sea, which they call the North Sea, whicli is our northwest sea;
and that he followed his course, in that voyage, west and northwest in tlie South
Sea, all along the coast of Nova Spania, and California, and the Indies, now called
North America (all which voyage he signified to me in a great map, and a sea-card
of my own, which I laid before him), until he came to the latitude of 47 degrees ;
and that, there finding that the land trended north and northwest, with a broad
inlet of sea, between 47 and 48 degrees of latitude, he entered thereinto, sailing
therein more than twenty days, and found that land trending still sometimes north-
west, and northeast, arid north, and also east and southeastward, and very much
broader sea than was at the said entrance, and that he i^assed by divers islands in
that sailing ; and that, at the entrance of this said strait, there is, on the northwest
coast thereof, a great headland or island, with an exceeding high pinnacle, or spired
rock, like a pillar, thereupon. Also, he said that he went on land in divers places,
and that he saw some people on land clad in beasts' skins ; and that the land is very
fruitful, and rich of gold, silver, pearls, and other things, like Nova Spania. Also,
he said that he being entered thus far into the said strait, and being come into the
North Sea already, and finding the sea wide enough everywhere, and to be about
thirty or forty leagues wide in the mouth of the straits where he entered, he thought
he had now well discharged his office ; and that, not being armed to resist the force
of the savage people that might happen, he therefore set sail and returned home-
wards again towards Nova Spania, where he arrived at Acapulco, Anno 1592, hop-
ing to be rewarded by the Viceroy for this service done in the said voyage. * * *
[Here follows an account of his vain endeavors for three years to secure a proper
recognition of his services by the Viceroy or the Spanish monarch, and his resolu-
tion to return to his native land to die among his countrymen.] Also, he said he
thought the cause of his ill reward had of the Spaniards, to be for that they did
understand very well that the English nation had now given over all their voyages
for discovery of the northwest passage ; wherefore, they need not fear them any
more to come that way into the South Sea, and therefore they needed not his ser-
vice therein any more. Also, he said that, understanding the noble mind of the
Queen of England, and of her wars against the Spaniards, and hoping that her
majesty would do him justice for his goods lost by Captain Candish, he would be
content to go into England and serve her majesty in that voyage for the discovery
perfectly of the northwest passage into the South Sea, if she would furnish him
STIJAITS OF JUAN DE FUCA AND KIVEU OF KINOS. 39
with only one shi]i of forty tons burden, and a pinnace, and tliat he would perform
it in thirtj' days' time, from one end to the other of the strait, and he willed me so
to write to England. And, from conference had twice with the said Greek pilot, I
did write thereof, accordingly, to England, unto the right honorable the old Lord
Treasurer Cecil, and to 8ir Walter Ealeigh, and to Master Richard Hakluyt, that
famous cosmographer, certifying them hereof. And T prayed them to disburse
£100, to bring the said Greek pilot into England, with myself, for that my own
purse would not stretch so wide at that time. And I had answer that this action
was well liked and greatly desired in England ; but the money was not ready, and
therefore this action died at that time, though the said Greek pilot, perchance,
liveth still in his own country, in Cephalonia, towards which place he went within
a fortnight after this conference had at Venice.
There is more of the docnnient, detailing quite a correspondence
between Lock and the Greek, from which it appears that the ohl
pikt was alive in 1598, hut that in 160-2, when Lock had finished
his business in Venice and was preparing to return to England, he
addressed a letter to Fuca, to which he received no answer, and that
a short time afterwards he learned that the Greek was dead.
There has been much controversy ^^mong historians as to the
authenticity of this document. In the long negotiations between
England and the United States in regard to the location of the
international boundai'y line, it was vigorously supported by the
Americans and as earnestly combated by the representatives of Great
Britain. As in the discussion of Sir Francis Drake's voyage, Avriters
were divided strictly upon national lines, and thus are subject to the
charge of l^ias and prejudice. A fair examination \Adll con^dnce an
impartial person that, although it is not impossible the voyage was
made, the pro])a])ilities are that the letter of Mr. Lock was one com-
posed for the purpose of creating a sensation, and no such personage
as Juan de Fuca ever existed. The English writers seem to have
espoused the l)etter side of the argument, though there is no reason
to suppose they ^^•ould not have as readily advocated the opposite
one had the interests of Great Britain required it. The question
was long since settled and the boundary esta])lished at the forty-
ninth parallel and the Straits of Fuca; and no^v, freed fi'om national
prejudice, American AA'riters generally declare their belief that the
voyage of the Greek pilot Avas a myth. Briefly presented, the argu-
ments on either side are as follows: —
It is maintained by the supporters of the document that the
statements therein contained are, many of them, known to be true;
that in its geographical descriptions it is more accurate than the
40 HI8T0KY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
report of any previous Spanish \^oyage; that the fact of his h)catuig
the entrance to the passage between latitudes 47 and 4S degrees,
instead of 48 and 49 degrees, is not as serious as their opponents
assert, since much greater errors in locating well-kn(^^vn objects
appear in the accounts of voyages of whose authenticity there is no
dispute. The Spaniards were not scientific navigators, and their
reports bristle with errors in latitude, while longitude seems to have
been entirely beyond theuL This lack of accuracy prevented them
from making a correct map of the coast line of' California, even
after they had explored and sailed along it for two centuries. There
is, also, a marked absence of those stereotyped descriptions of won-
derful cities and strange peoples which seems to have formed such
an important part of the accounts of many pi'evious and sul)se(pient
voyages. A careful comparison by one who is familiar with the
geography of that region will convince him that in the narrative the
Straits of Fuca are very accurately described — with the exception
of the great rocky pillar on the northwest — especially in the fact
that the land north of the straits (Vancouver Island) trends to the
northwest. He sailed in the passage twenty days, finding numerous
islands and arms of the ocean running in all dii-ections, and finally
emerged into tlie N(^rth Sea. What could uk )re accui'ately describe
a voyage through the Straits of Fuca and (Tulf of Georgia, 1 )etween
Vancouver Island and the mainland, until the open ocean was again
reached on the northwest? It is not claimed that he entered the
Atlantic, but the North Sea of Maldonado ; and it must be borne in
mind that the Straits of Anian as then understood — that descril^ed
by Maldonado — was a long passage, leading in a general north and
south direction, connecting the South Sea with the supposed North
Sea, and that to reach the Atlantic requii'ed a long voyage across this
North Sea and through tlie Straits of Labrador. It must be admit-
ted, then, that the descriptions given in Lock's account are wonder-
fully accurate if they are wholly imaginary; and as to the eri-or in
latitude — a matter of only a few miles — aside fi'oni the reasons
already given, may it not be accounted for by the fact that the nar- •
rative is waitten from memory by a second party who had received
but an oral account of the voyage?
The chief objection to the voyage is, that there is no confirmatory
evidence whatever to support it. Neither the royal nor colonial
STRAITS OF JUAN DE FUCA AND RTVEK OF KIN(4S. 41
records of Spain contain the faintest allusion to it, altlioiigh other
voyages, and especially some made but a fe\v years later, are recorded
at length. The narrative of Lock was not given to the public until
a quarter of a century had elapsed, and every one who might have
had any personal knowledge of it Avas |)rol)ably dead. Richard
Hakluyt, one of the three gentlemen to whom it is said Lock wrote
in relation to the matter from Venice, was one of the greatest men
of his age. He was an enthusiastic geographei", who spent much
time and money in collecting and publishing the accounts of all
important voyages made by the representatives of England, or any
other nation. It is inn)ossible to believe that he could have been so
indifferent to tlie sul^ject (^f Lock's letter, since the Straits of Anian
^vere the absorl)ing geogra])hical enigma of the times, as to have let
the matter of £l()() prevent him fi'oni Ininging the Greek pilot to
England ; and it is equally strange that no hint of such a voyage is
given in an)' of his works, though he is admitted to have ])een the
most thorough and correct geographer of the sixteenth century.
Another objection, and perhaps the strongest one, is the fact
that at the very time Juan de Fuca is asserted to have been urging
his claim for ^ reward upon the King of Spain, another Spanish
expedition was dispatched in search of the Straits of Anian, and in
the letter of instructions, which details at length the reasons for
ordering the voyage, no allusion is made to Fuca or his straits. Had
such a voyage as Fuca's actually been made, this second expedition
would certainly have availed itself of the knowledge thus gained.
Instead of doing so, the record of that voyage conclusively shows
that the commander must have been utterly ignorant of Fuca and
his alleged voyage ; and this proves, also, that he could have had no
secret instructions on the subject.
In viewing the matter critically, it must be admitted that the
evidences against the authenticity of the voyage, though entirely of
a negative character, greatly outweigh the one circumstantial e\d-
dence in its favor — the fact that a passage much similar to the one
described actually exists a few miles to the north of the location
fixed in the narrative. Juan de Fuca's voyage was probably a
myth.
The third and last mythical passage to receive popular credence
and engage the attention of geographers and explorers for years,
42 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
was the River of Kings, the Rio de los Reyes of Admiral Fonte.
Like the narratives of Maldonado and Fuca, this did not reach the
public until many years had elaj^sed fi'om the time assigned to the
voyage, and this fact alone is almost conclusive evidence of its man-
ufactured character. Such a voyage as any of these w^ould have
been made public soon after its completion, so eager were the learned
men of the time to gain all the information possible on these subjects.
It was natural for a person inventing such a tale to assign a date so
far back that he need have no fear of a personal contradiction.
A magazine entitled Monthly Miscellany, or Memoires of the
Curious^ was published in London in 1708, containing a long ac-
count of a voyage alleged to have been made in 1640, sixty-eight
years pre^dously, fi-om the Pacific to the Atlantic and return, through
a system of rivers crossing North America al^out the fift}^-third par-
allel. The man who is credited with making this wonderful voyage
is Admiral Pedro Bartolome de Fonte, of the Spanish Marine.
According to the account given in this, magazine, Admiral Fonte
was instructed by the Viceroy of Peru to explore the Pacific coast
of North America for a passage leading into the Atlantic, and to
intercept some Boston vessels which the Viceroy had learned had
sailed upon the same errand on the Atlantic coast. He sailed fi'om
Callao in April, 1640, with four vessels. At Cape San Lucas he
dispatched one of these to explore the Gulf of California, and mth
the remaining three continued up the coast. In latitude 53 degrees,
after sailing a long distance among islands, which he christened the
"Archipelago de Lazarus," he observed the mouth of a great river,
which he decided to enter. One of his vessels was sent further up
the coast, under the command of Captain Bernardo, while with the
other two he ascended the stream, whose great proportions won fi'om
him the title of " Rio de los Reyes," or " River of Kings." This he
followed in a noi-theasterly direction a long distance, finally reach-
ing its source in an immense lake, which he named " Lake Belle."
This was the country of a wealthy and ci\alized nation, whose chief
town, on the south shore of the lake, was called Conasset, and who
entertained the strangers who had so unexpectedly come among
them in a most hospitable manner. This lake was evidently on the
summit of the divide between the waters of the two oceans, for
flowing from it in an opposite direction from the river he had
STRAITS OF JUAN DE FUCA AND RIVER OF KINGS. 48
ascended was another large stream, whicli he called " Parmentier."
Leaving his vessels at Conasset, he descended the Parmentier until
he entered another lake, upon which he bestowed his own name,
from which he passed through a narrow strait into the Atlantic
ocean. This last passage he named " Strait of Konquillo," in honor
of the captain of one of his vessels. Thus, through a continuous
waterway of rivers and lakes, he had passed through the entire con-
tinent of North America.
When that story was written the author little dreamed that in the
latitude assigned to this wonderful passageway the continent was
more than five thousand miles in width. Ha^dng entered the At-
lantic the Admiral soon encountered the Boston vessel which it was
feared had designs upon the Spanish possessions in the Pacific. The
captain of the colonial craft was Nicholas Shapley, and on board
was its owaier, one Seymour Gibbons, whom Fonte described as
" a fine gentleman, and major-general of the largest colony in New
England, called Maltechusetts." Fonte decided to treat these
strangers as peaceful traders, and the representatives of these two
nations indulged in a series of mutual entertainments which appear
to have given the Admiral great satisfaction. He then returned to
the Pacific by the route he had come, finding his vessels waiting for
him in good condition in Lake Belle, the inhabitants of Conasset
ha™g refi-ained from molesting them. At the mouth of the Biver
of Kings he was joined by Bernardo, who had an equally wonder-
ful tale to relate. He, too, had discovered a great river, in latitude
61 degrees, and had ascended it to its source in a large lake. These
he called " Bio de Haro," and " Lake Velasco." From the lake he
ascended another stream in canoes as high as the seventy-ninth par-
allel, but observing the land " still trending north, and the ice rested
on the land, he became satisfied that there was no communication
out of the Atlantic Sea by Davis' Straits; for the natives had con-
ducted one of his seamen to the head of Davis' Strait, which termi-
nated in a fresh lake, of about thirty miles in cu-cumference, in the
eightieth degree of north latitude, and there were prodigious moun-
tains north of it." He, therefore, returned to the Pacific to rejoin
his commander. Fonte was satisfied from the report that the Straits
of Anian did not exist, and returned to Peru to report that fact,
44 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
and the ^vondel•ful river route he had discovered through the con-
tinent.
Tliis ^\hole story is utterly absurd, in the light of our present
kno^^ ledge of geography, but was far fi'om being so at the time it
was promulgated. Yet it contains enough inconsistencies and pal-
pable errors to have even then condemned it in the eyes of a critical
reader. The statement that in 1640, only ten years after Boston
was founded, the pe(^ple of that struggling colony were searching
for the Straits of x\nian is too improbable for belief. This English
historian should h^ve known, also, that Massachusetts was governed
at the date mentioned l)y John Winthrop and not l)y Seymour Gil)-
bons, whose name does not appear at all in the list of New England
governors or " major-generals." Not the slightest reference is made
to it in the records of Spain or Peru, and it is now generally con-
ceded tliat the story is a creation of James Petiver, an eminent nat-
uralist, \A'ho was a fi'equent contributor to the magazine in which it
first appeared.
CHAPTER IV.
VOYAGES AND EVENTS OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
Philip orders a Voyage along the Pacific Coast — Reasons Assigned hy
Torquemada and Veriegas — Viscaino sent out by the Viceroy in
1596 — Viscaino^ s second Voyage in 1602 — Ravages of the Scurvy — ■
He Entem Monterey — Argument of the Claim that he Entered San
Erancisco Bay — Earliest Positive Knowledge of that Harhor — Vis-
caino goes to Latitude Ji.2° and returns ; hut Aguilar reaches ^3° —
Cajye Blanco and the River of Aguilar — California Supposed to he
an Island — Viscaino dies after Obtaining a Royal Mandate to occupy
Monterey — Spain Ceases all Exploration of the Coast.
AS the vai'ious roiuaiices wliicli have been conisiderecl were all
pu])lishe(l many _7eai's after the date ascribed to the \^oy ages of
Avdiich they speak, it is now necessary to tnrn l)ack to these times
and see what was actually being accomplished. The hrst tiling to
1)6 found affecting Oregon is the voyage of 8el)astian Viscaino. It
has been seen that at the very time when Juan de Fuca was impor-
tuning the Spanish monarch for recognition of his services, accord-
ing to Lock's letter, that royal personage ordered a survey of the
Pacihc Coast. The reasons that moved Philip IL, in 1595, to issue
his royal mandate to the Mexican Vicei'oy are thus set forth by
Torquemada : —
His majesty knew that the viceroys of Mexico had endeavored to discover a
northern passage, and he had found, among his father's papers, a declaration of
certain strangers, to the effect that they had been driven, by violent winds, from
the codfish coast on the Atlantic, to the South Sea, through the Strait of Anian,
which is beyond Cape Mendocino, and had, on their way, seen a rich and populous
city, well fortified, and inhabited by a numerous and civilized nation, who had
treated them well ; as also many other things worthy to be seen and known. His
majesty liad also been informed that ships, sailing from China to Mexico, ran great
risks, particularly near Cape Mendocino, where the storms are mOvSt violent, and
that it would be advantageous to have that coast surveyed thence to Acapulco, so
46 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
that the ships, mostly belonging to his majesty, should find places for relief and
refreshment when needed. AVhereupon his majesty ordered the Count de Monte-
rey, Viceroy of Mexico, to have those coasts surveyed, at his own expense, with all
care and diligence.
Half a century later another Spanish historian, Venegas, gave
the following reasons for Spain's anxiety to become l)etter informed
of the coast above Cape Mendocino: —
That in the meantime the English should find out the so-much-desired passage
to the South Sea, by the north of America and above California, which passage is
not universally denied, and one day may be found; that they may fortify them-
selves on both sides of this passage, and thus extend the English dominion from
the north to the south of America, so as to border on our possessions. Should
English colonies and garrisons be established along the coast of America on the
South Sea beyond Cape Mendocino, or lower down on California itself, England
would then, without control, reign mistress of the sea and its commerce, and be
able to threaten by laud and sea the territories of Spain; invade them on occasion
from the E., W., N. and S., hem them in and press them on all sides.
In this is contained no hint of Juan de Fuca; and if the conduct
of men can be considered as indicative of their motives, it must V)e
admitted that the King, the Viceroy and the commanders of the vari-
ous expeditions, were utterly ignorant of the Greek's alleged voyage,
notA\nthstanding Lock's letter states that the old pilot had in vain
urged the Viceroy and the King to take possession of the Straits of
Fuca.
The Viceroy of Mexico did not feel an interest in the Straits of
Anian, or the California Coast, deep enough to render him eager to
explore them at his own expense, as commanded to do by the king;
yet he dared not disobey the royal mandate. He made a shomng
of compliance, by dispatching Sebastian Viscaino from Acapulco,
in the spring of 1596, Avith thi-ee vessels. These did not proceed
beyond Lower California, where two feeble and unsuccessful efforts
were made to plant colonies, leaving the great objects of the expe-
dition untouched. The death of the king, in 1598, served as an
excuse for ceasing even these feeble efforts, which made extensive
drafts upon the Viceroy's revenue. The respite Avas only temporary,
however, for Philip HL followed his father's ideas on the subject,
and peremptorily ordered his representative in Mexico to make these
explorations without delay.
There was nothing noAv to do but to comply with the King's
command, and an expedition was fitted out, composed of tAvo vessels
and a small fragata^ and entrusted to the command of Viscaino.
VOYAGES AND EVENTS OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 47
The fleet sailed May 5, 1602, from Aeapulco, well supplied with
pilots, di-aughtsmen and priests — the first to navigate the ships, the
second to make maps of the coast, and the third to keep an accurate
account of the voyage, a literary feat iew l:)esides priests were able
to accomplish in those days, when the s^Nord ^vas mightier than the
pen. The priestly authorship of the records of the voyage is frdly
attested by the passage in .'J'or(piemada, Avhich, in speaking of the
head winds which baffled the vessels for a long time, says that they
were produced " by the foe of the human race, in order to prevent
the advance of the ships, and to delay the discovery of these coun-
tries, and the conversion of their inhabitants to the Catholic faith."
As the fleet advanced scm'vy made its appearance among the
seamen, and its terril)le ravages added to the adverse winds to con-
vince the priests that the Evil One was doing his utmost to oppose
their progress. In the face of all this the vessels steadily advanced
noi-thward, entering successively the ports of San Quentin, San
Diego and Monterey. Sixteen of the crew having died and many
others Ijeing utterly incapacitated for duty by the horri])le malady,
it was decided at jNIonterey to send one of the vessels back with the
invalids. This ship was commanded by Torebio Gomes de Corvan,
and reached Acapulco, with but few of her crew alive, after a voy-
age whose horroi's have no parallel in the annals of the sea. On
the third of January, 1(303, the two remaining vessels sailed fr'om
Monterey, and were soon afterwards separated by a violent storm,
and were not again united. Viscaino, in the larger one, instituted
a search for the wreck of a Manila galleon, Avhich had been cast
away on this part of the coast eight years before. It was for a long
time supposed that he entered San Francisco Harbor, since Torque-
mada says: " He anchored behind a point of rocks called La Punta
de los Reyes, in the port of San Francisco ; " but that idea does not
seem consistent with other facts, and is not endorsed by the best
authorities. It tloes not seem possible that an explorer could have
passed the Golden Gate and entered the wonderful harbor of San
Francisco without making such a record and description of it as
would leave no room for error. As in the case of Drake, Viscaino
was engaged in the search for something, which, upon entering this
beautiful bay, he would have congi'atulated himself upon discover-
ing ; and he certainl}^ would have taken as nuich pains to describe it
48 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
as he did other and com})aratively insignificant places. Viscaino
was searching for a harbor of refuge, and here, in the most desirable
localit}^ possible, was a magnificent harbor that could hold the fleets
of the world; yet upon his retui'n to Mexico he strongly urged the
Viceroy to estal:>lish stations at the greatly mferior harbors of San
Diego and Monterey, and said nothing about San Francisco what-
ever. In all ])rol)ability the port he entered was the same one in
whicli Drake had anchored twenty -five years before.
Just \vhen San Francisco Bay was discovered is uncertain. The
first time Caucassians are known to have visited it was in 1769,
when a party of Spaniards unexpectedly came upon it while search-
ing for the Bay of Montei-ey, and gave it the name it bears. Yet it
is almost a matter of certainty that some one must have \asited it
long l»efore, for in 174-2 an English commodore, named Anson, cap-
tured an East Indian galleon, and upon a chart found on the vessel
a})peare(l, in the latitude of this bay, seven little dots, marked " Los
Farallones," and o})posite these was indicated a land-locked harbor
somewhat resem])ling San Francisco Bay, but ha\dng no name at-
tached. It seems pi*obal)le that the existence of the bay was known
to those engaged in the India trade, who kept it a profound secret,
and could thus })rofit by all its advantages as a harl^or of refuge,
Avithout permitting it to become a i-endezvous for the pirates Avho
preyed upon their coinmei'ce, oi' a station foi* the wai' shi])s of hos-
tile nations.
On the twentieth of Januai'y, Viscaino, having been unsuccessful
in his search for the wrecked galleon, again sailed noi'thward. He
proceeded as far as latitude 42^, where he observed a lai'ge white
bluff, upon wdiich he bestowed the title of " San Sebastian." Dis-
couraged })y the unfavorable weather, the terrible sufferings of his
crew fi'om scurvy and the apparent loss of the consort, Viscaino
turned the prow of the Capitana to the south, and made his way
back to Mexico as rapidly as possible. When tlie storm ])arte(l the
two ve.ssels off San Francisco Bay, the little /ragata, which was
under the command of Martin de Aguilar, continued the northern
jom-ney, encountering another gale in the vicinity of Cape Mendo-
cino, from whose fury it escaped by taking refuge in some sheltered
place on that portion of the coast. AVliat this place of refuge was
does not appear, but Humboldt Bay and the Bay of Trinidad seem
VOYAGES AND EVENTS OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 49
to be the only ports in that region capable of sheltering a vessel from
a severe storm, and one of these must have been entered by the
fragata ; though, if such is the case, it seems strange that a more
extended description of it is not given. The su])se(|uent movements
of the little craft ai'e thus detailed by Torquemada: —
When the wind had become less violent they continued their journey close along
the shore, and on the nineteenth of January, the pilot, Antonio Flores, found that
they were in the latitude of 43°, where the land formed a cape or point, which wai^
named "Cape Blanco." From that point the coast begins to turn to the northwest,
and near it was discovei'ed a rapid and abundant river, with ash trees, willows,
brambles, and other trees of Castile and its banks, which they endeavored to enter,
but could not from the force of the current. Ensign Martin de Aguilar, the com-
mander, and Antonio Flores, the pilot, seeing that they had already reached a
higher latitude than was ordered by the Viceroy in his instructions, that 'the Capi-
tana did not appear, and that the number of sick was great, agreed to return to
Acapulco.
They never performed theij' agreement, for when i\w fragata
reached Acapulco both the commander and pilot, as well as the
greater portion of the cre\v% had fallen victims to the ^scur^'y and
had l)een consigned to the bosom of the great unkno^vn ocean.
It is impossible to reaUze the dreadful ravages committed by that
horril)le disease among the explorers of those early times. Every
prolonged voyage suffered the impress of its blighting linger. Death
took passage in every vessel sent into unkno\\ai \vaters. English
mariners seem to have suffered less than did the Spaniards, or, in
later times, the Russians. Of the sufferings on l^oard of Aguilar''s
fated craft Torcpiemada says: —
Nor is the least ease to be expected from change of place, as the slightest motion
is attended'with such severe pains that they must be very fond of life who would
not willingly lay it down on the first appearance of so terrible a distempei- This
virulent humor makes such ravages in the body that it is entirely covered with
ulcers, and the poor patients are unable to bear the least pressure ; even the very
clothes laid on them deprive them of life. Thus they lie groaning and incapable of
any relief. For the greatest assistance possible to be given them, if I may be allowed
the expression, is not to touch them, nor even the bed clothes. These effects, how-
ever melancholy, are not the only ones produced by this pestilential humor. In
many, the gums, both of the upper and lower jaws, are pressed both within and
without to such a degree, that the teeth can not touch one another, and withal so
loose and bare that they shake with the least motion of the head, and some of the
patients spit their teeth out with their saliva. Thus they were unable to receive
any food but liquid, as gruel, broth, milk of almonds and the like. This gradually
brought on so great a weakness that they died while talking to their friends. * *
* Some, by way of ease, made loud complaints, others lamented their sins with
the deepest contrition, some died talking, some sleeping, some eating, some whilst
sitting up in their beds.
50 HISTOKY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
Sucli were the privations aud afflictions endured hj the early
explorers of the coast of Oregon.
A fourth geographical enigma was now added to the list of those
which perplexed the seekers for a Northwest Passage; though, more
properly speaking, this was the first, since know^ledge of this voyage
was spread abroad several }ears«]>efore Maldonado entertained the
Council of the Indies with his clever I'omance al)out the Straits of
Anian, or Lock's letter gave to the world the dubious tale of Juan
de Fuca. According to Torquemada, it was "supposed that this
river is one leading to a great city which Avas discovered by the Dutch
when they were driven thither by storms, and that it is the Straits
of Anian through which the ship passed in sailing from the Noi'th
Sea to the South Sea, and that the city called Quiwa (the one
which led Coronado such a dance sixty years before) is in those
parts; and that this higher latitude is the region referred to in the
account which his majesty i-ead, and which in<luced him to oi'der
this expedition." There is here a serious discrepancy — an error of
as great a magnitude as the one cited as evidence of the m}i:hical
character of the alleged voyage of Juan de Fuca» No great river
exists in latitude 43°, but a short distance up the coast is the Ump-
cpia, which, though l)y no means as great a stream as this one was
supposed to be, may be considered of sufficient proportions to do
duty as the River of Aguilar. The same may be said of Rogue
River, some miles below the point indicated. One can not help
noticing here the foundation of the " River of Kings " story after-
wards concocted by Petiver. The great river supposed to lead
through the continent, and the large city some distance up the stream,
both appear here in the original. The idea that this was the Straits
of Anian, or anything of a similar nature, did not long ol)tain. A
few years later it was conceived that this and the Colorado rivers
were the two ends of a long inland channel, which united in such a
manner as to make California an island. This theory found a place
upon the maps foi- a short time, till it was discovered that the Col-
orado led off to the northeastward instead of to\vard the northwest.
It was then su]>]h)sh1 that this was a vast river flo^dng frcmi un-
known regi<>ns in the heart of the continent, such a stream as the
Colundiia was in hiter years found to be, and maps thereafter bore
upon theiii an indication of such a i-ivei\ V>eanng the name "River
VOYAGES AND EVENTS OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTIRY. 51
of Aguilar," and various other titles, which, with the reason for be-
stomng them, will appear later on in speaking of the journey of
the early explorers of the Rocky Mountains.
Viscaino had kept in view the chief ohject of his \'<)yage — the
discovery of a suitable harbor of refiige for vessels in the Manila
trade — and immediately upon his retui'n urged u])()n the Viceroy
the desirability of establishing suppl)^ stations at San Diego and
Monterey, the only suitable hai'boi's he had encountered. He re})orte(l
that diligent inquuy among the nations had elicited the information
that California was extremely fertile and rich in the i)reci()us metals.
There was one serious objection to so doing, which had great weight
with the Viceroy. He had been instructed in the royal decree to
accomplish these things at his own expense, and he Avas much averse
to devoting his private revenues, which ^vere, no doubt, very con-
siderable, to the accomplishment of public measures. In vain Vis-
caino urged, the ^'^iceroy ^vas obdurate, and, at last, the ex].)loi-ei"
went to Spain to lay the matter before his sovereign. After several
years of attendance at court he succeeded, in l(i<)6, in procuring a
royal mandate to the Mceroy, directing him to establish a supply
station at Monterey. \Miile preparations for doing so were advanc-
ing Viscaino died, and the Viceroy seized the opportunity to defeat
the projected colony. For a century and one-hidf thereafter Spain
made no fiu-ther attempt to explore the coast north of California.
The East India \'essels iirst sighted land on their home voyage in
the vicinity of Cape Mendocino, and then followed the coast south
to Mexico ; 1 uit north of that the Pacific Coast of North America
remained a terra incognita for ages. The secret of this apj)arent
apathy av as the unwillingness of the viceroys to explore new regions
at their own expense. There is a tradition floating about in South-
ern Oregon that one of these galleons was driven out of its couivse
and put into the Umpqua River to repau" damages. Indian tradi-
tions and the old stumps of trees are relied upon as corroborative
evidence; thought what the original authority is, or' in what yeai"
the event is said to have occurred, the writer has l)een unable to
learn. The story is probably an outgrowth of the attempt of
Aguilar to enter some river in that region.
CHAPTER V.
HUDSON'S BAY, CAPE HORN, AND BEHRING'S STRAITS.
Discovery of Davis' Straits — Henry Hudson, William Baffin, and
other Exjylorers in the N orth- Atlantic — Dutch Navigators Discover
the Passage around Cape Horn — Buccaneers Swarni into the Pacific
hy the New Route — Otondo attempts to Colonize Lower California —
The Hudson's Bay Company Chartered, in 1669, to Discover the
Straits of Anian — Privileges Granted hy the Charter — The Company
Heads off all Efforts at Exploration — Rtissians cross Siberia and
Explore the Pacific — Plans of Peter the Great — Discovery of Beh-
Hng\s Straits and Alasli-a — Voyage of Tchirikof—Behring Discovers
Motmt St. Elias and Dies on Behring^s Isle — The Early Fur
Trade of the North Pacific — Benyowshy Takes a Cargo of E\irs to
Canton and thus Reveals the Magnitude of the Pacific Ocean — Rus-
sian Idea of Alaskan Geography.
SEALER AL important voyages were made l)y Euglisli mariners on
the Atlantic coast in seai'ching for the Northwest Passage, all of
^vhich l)ear a close relation to the more direct steps taken on the
Pacific side in the discovery of Oregon. In 1588, at the time set in
Maldonado's romance for his voyage through the Straits of Anian, a
celebrated English navigator was actually exploring the seas about
the seventy -fifth pai-allel. This was John Davis. After searching
in vain for a passage westAvard, he finall}' discovered Davis^ Straits,
but was compelled to return to England l)efore making a thorough
exploration of them, leaving in doubt the (piestion of whether through
them, or })y some body of water connecting with them, the Pacific
might not be reached. Abont the same tune the great fi-eebooter,
Thomas Cavendish, returned with his vessel laden with the plunder
of the South Sea, and Davis, dazzled by the glittering prospect of
great wealth to be gained by plundering the Spanish commerce,
58
abandoned liis search for the Northwest Passage and sailed with
Cavendish upon his second expedition to tlie Pacific, a voyage which
ended in signal disaster.
In 16(18, Henry Hudson, bent upon the same errand as Davis,
exjdored tlie Noi'th Atlantic coast. He entered Hudson's Bay and
partially examined it; and though he l)estowed his name upon the
l)ay, as well as the straits leading to it, he was l)ut following the
course pursued a century before by Cortereal. William Baffin was
the next noted niarinei- to navigate these seas. In 1616 he sailed
noi'th, between America and (xreenland, into Baffin's -Bay. Other
explorers followed in the wake of these more noted ones, and exam-
ined the coast carefully as high as the seventy -fifth parallel. It was
of no use; tlie Straits of Anian could<iiiot 1)e found. Geographers
became satisfied that if discovered at all they would be found lead-
ing westward from some arm of Hudson's Bay which had been but
partially explorecb England soon became convulsed l)y civil war
between the people and the House of Stuart, and xVmerica was neg-
lected for half a century. Meanwhile, an important discovery was
made in an opposite direction, one most disastrous to the Pacific
commerce of S[)ain.
While Baffin was pursuing his search among the icebergs and
floes of the Arctic, two Dutch navigators, Van Schouten and Le-
maire, passed south of the Straits of Magellan and discovered the
open sea connecting the Atlantic and Pacific. They rounded Ca^^e
Horn, which they thus christened — in memoi-y of the place of their
nativity, " Holland" — and entered the South Sea without encounter-
ing the dangers attending a passage through the Straits of Magellan,
or meeting the Spanish ships of war which guarded the entrance to
that narrow passageway. Here, now, was a route open to all nations
— one which Spain could neither monopolize nor defend. Spain, con-
tinually involved in European wars, was now exposed to attack in
her most vital part. From America and the Indies came the revenue
with which she now made war upon England and France, oppressed
the Netherlands and sustained the terrible Inquisition. Privateers
of the three hostile nations swarmed into the South Sea and plun-
dered her commerce. Buccaneers attacked the Spanish possessions
in America from both the Atlantic and Pacific sides. Especially
did the Dutch aid in this way the desperate struggle of the Nether-
54 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
lands for Independence from Spanish rule. The Gulf of California
became their rallying place, their special rendezvous being the Bay
of Pichilingue, which w^on for them the title of " Pichilingues," a
name both feared and hated by the mariners of Spain. From this
retreat they issued to commit their ravages, and often returned with
the rich prize of a Manila galleon. The feeble efforts of Spain to
dislodge these l)old marauders, who were literally drawing the life
blood of the- nation, were of no avail. Several times she made
great preparations to exterminate them, but even if driven out they
returned again in greater numbers as soon as the ^^'ay was open.
Finally, in 1688, an effort was made to plant a colon}- in Lower
California, which should serve as a basis for keeping the gulf fi'ee
fi'om pirates, and of rescuing from threatened attack the annual
galleon. Admiral Don Isdro de Otondo was at the head of this
expedition, which consisted of soldiers, settlers and Jesuit priests.
For three years the effort was sustained in the face of drouth and
sterile soil, and then the colony was abandoned ; the last act being
to rescue and convey safely to port the Manila galleon, whose safety
was threatened by the dreaded privateers.
When the long fratricidal war in England was over and the son
<^f the murdered king was set upon the throne, attention was once
more directed toward America. The belief that the Straits of
Anian could be found only in Hudson's Bay was then a general
one, and to aid in its discovery, in 1669, Charles the II.. granted
almost royal privileges in America to a company of his subjects.
Such were the relative importance in those days of the rich com-
merce of the Indies and the Arctic wilds of unexplored America.
Reports of the valuable furs to be obtained from the natives along
the coast which were made by the old explorers, and the hope that
other and even more valuable articles could be obtained in trade
with the Indians, led to the organization of a company to engage
in that profitaVde business. They applied to the King for a royal
charter, which was granted in consideration of their agreement to
search for the much-desired Straits of Anian. The two-fold object
— ^that of the King and that of the company — was expressed in the
charter which created " The Company of Adventurers of England
Trading into Hudson's Bay." This object, as expressed, was "for
the discovery of a new passage into the South Sea, and for the find-
HTDSOx's BAY, CAPE FIOKN, AND BKHRINg's STHATTS, 55
iiiii; of some ti*;ule in furs, uiiiierals and other considerable commo-
dities."" The company was granted the exclusive right of the
''trade and commerce of all those seas, straits and bays, rivers,
lakes, creeks and sounds, in Avhatsoever latitude they shall be, that
lie within the entrance of the straits commonly called Hudson's
Straits." Of this region, which embraced all that vast territory
whose watei' slied is into Hudson's Bay, this company was given
absolute control to the exclusion of all persons whomsoever. It
was constituted "for all time hereafter, capalde in law, to have,
purchase, receive, possess, enjoy and retain lands, rents, privileges,
liberties, jurisdiction, franchise and hereditaments of what kind,
nature or (piality soever they be, to them and their successors;"
and all persons were forbidden to "visit, hunt, fi'equent, trade,
traffic or adventure " therein without permission of the company.
The annual rent of this great empire was " two elks and two black
beavers," whicli the King, if he desired to have it paid, must go
upon the land and collect for himself. The company has few rent
receipts to exliibit. This is the organization known in history 'as
the Hudson's Bay Company, a name vivid in the memory of Oregon
pioneers. What a splendid thing this charter was to the company,
and what an obstacle it became in the pathway of England's pro-
gress in Amei-ica, will appear as this narrative unfolds. But for
the selfish policy of the Hudson's Bay Company, Oregon would
to-day be a province of Great Britain.
The company soon learned that their true interests lay, not in
tinding the Northwest Passage, but in preventing the discovery of
it altogether. They were able to accomj^lish this and to hold the
government and every one else not connected with the organization
in comjDlete ignorance of the region in which they were doing a
l)usiness which assume<l gigantic proportions in a few years. Thus
it happened that no more efforts of consequence were made by
England to discover the Straits of Anian for a whole century after
the granting of this magnificent charter, the company being able to
prevent or bring to grief all expeditions of this character. Such
was the soulless conduct of this corporate monopoly to the govern-
ment to which it owed its very existence.
From the time Aguilar's little vessel conveyed her afflicted crew
back to Mexico in 1603, more than a century passed before another
56 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
voyage was attempted. Not a vessel cast its shadow upon the
waters of the North Pacific, nor a Caucasian eye gazed upon the
mountain peaks that stand like ancient sentinels along our coast.
Suddenl}^ interest in this region was revived, and initial steps were
taken by a power previously supposed to have no interest whatever
in the American question. The sudden rise of Russia from obliv-
ion to a high rank among the powers of the world, a revolution
wrouo-ht by the genius of the enlightened monarch, Peter the Great,
is one of the marvels of history. Gradually he extended his power
eastward across the snowy wastes of Siberia until Ins dominions
were washed by the waters of the Pacific beating upon the Penin-
sula of Kamtchatka. The fur trade of this vast solitude became
a valuable one, and added to the great revenue of the Czar. Hav-
ing reached the Pacific he became eager to extend his power still
further eastward until it touched the western confines of the de-
pendencies of England, France and Spain in America. How far
that was, or what was the nature of the region coveted, neither he
nor any one else had the faintest glimmering of knowledge. It
mi2:ht be a great ocean of valueless water, a sea filled with islands,
a continent of ice, or a land of plenty, " flowing with milk and
honey." No one knew; but this powerful autocrat proposed to
find out. His first step was to discover a waterway into the Pacific
from the Arctic Ocean which washed his dominions on the north —
just such a passage as the English mariners had searched for in
vain, though he expected to reach it by going east instead of to the
west. He ordered vessels to be constructed at Archangel, on the
White Sea, for the purpose of coasting in the Arctic eastward along
the shores of Siljeria until an opening was discovered into the Pa-
cific. Other vessels were to be constructed on the coast of Kam-
tchatka, which Were to take an opposite course and endeav(n* to
pass northward into the Arctic. Peter died before his plans were
executed, and the project was held in abeyance for several years.
The Empress Catherine was a worthy successor of her noble
husband, and when firmly settled upon the tkrone she tm-ned her
attention to completing the work he had begun. In 1728, in ac-
cordance with her instructions, vessels were built on the coast of
Kamtchatka, which were dispatched in search of the desired pas-
sage ))etween the Arctic Ocean and the Pacific. In command of
HUDSOlSr S BAY, CAPE HORN, AND BEHRTNG S STRAITS. o7
the expedition was Vitus Behring, a Daiiisli navigator of skill and
experience, in whose charge the former exploration was to have
been placed by Peter. Russia was not a maritime nation, and her
seamen were in no manner scientific navigators, hence the selection
of this skillful Dane for the command of so important an expedi-
tion. Behring sailed on the fourteenth of July, and followed the
coast northerly in his little vessel until he found it trending steadily
to the westward. From this fact he became convinced that he had
already entered the Arctic and was sailing along the northern coast
of Asia; and ])eing unprepared for a long voyage, or the possibility
of being compelled to spend tlie winter in the ice, he returned at
once to the port of embarkation. The highest point reached was
fiT** 18,' but the longitude is not given. Neither going nor return-
ing through the straits did he espy the coast line of America, foggy
and cloudy weather obscuring it from view, and consequently he
reported upon his return that a great open sea lay to the eastward
of Asia, joining the Pacific Ocean with the Arctic. The next year
he endeavored to cross this ocean and reach the shore of America
by sailing directly eastward. In this attempt he was baffled by
head winds and was driven by a gale into the Gulf of Okotsk. He
abandoned the effort and returned to St. Petersburg to report his
discoveries. During the few succeeding years a number of smaller
expeditions were made by Russian subjects; one of these being
driven upon the Alaskan coast in 1732, when it was discovered that
not an open sea but a strait connected the two great oceans. Upon
this was bestowed the name of the Danish explorer — the pioneer
navigator of the North Pacific.
Catherine died, and after the consequent delay, her successor',
the Empress Anne, fitted out an expedition for the purpose of
exploring on a more extended scale than had previously l^een done.
This consisted of two vessels, Behring being in command of one,
and Alexei Tchirikof, a Russian, who had been his lieutenant on the
first voyage, of the other. Anne died before the expedition was
ready to sail, but Elizabeth, who succeeded to the throne, did not
interfere with the plans which had been laid, and the two consorts
sailed from the Bay of Avatscha on the fourth of June, 1741. They
were soon separated in a gale and were not again united. Tchirikof 's
vessel, the SL Pau/, returned on the eighth of October, in a sad
58 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
pliaiht. She had reached a group of islands in latitude 56", where
sixteen of the crew, who landed to make a reconnoisance, were
slaughtered by the Indians. Besides these, twenty-one more suc-
cuml)ed to the ravages of the scurvy before the vessel found her way
back to port.
Sad a,s were the misfortunes that l)efel the crew of the SL Paul^
they were slight compared ^vith tlie disasters which crowded upon
their comrades on l)oard the St. Peter. Behring steered a south-
easterly course for many days, and at last reached latitude 46°, with-
out ha™g encountered land. This is the latitude of the Columbia
River, but how near the coast of America he approached at that
point is not recorded. The mysteries of longitude seem to have
been beyond the penetration of the explorers of those days. Captain
Cook, nearly fifty years later, is the lirst explorer who seems to have
understood the necessity of locating an object by its longitude as
well as its distance fi-oni' the equator. Behring then turned his prow
to the northeast and continued his voyage until he had ascended to
the sixtieth degree, when he discovered land, the first thing to meet
his gaze being a giant snow- crowned peak. This he named " Mount
St. Elias," in honor of the saint whose name appeared in the Rus-
sian calendai- as pati'on of the eighteenth of July, the date of the
discovery. The St. Peter sailed into a passage leading between the
mainland and a large island, Avhen Behring discovered that the water
was discolored, as though it had been discharged from a large river,
the volume indicating the stream to be the water drain of a land of
continental proportions. That this was America no one on board
doubted. The subordinate officei's desired to explore the coast
southward, in the direction of the Spanish colonies, )»ut Behiing,
who was in ill health, refused to do so, and started upon the return
\'oyage. They made but slow progress among the islands l^^ng to
the southwest of the Peninsula of Alaska, and finally, being di-iven
by a severe storm f ai' to the southward, the vessel wandered aimlessl}^
about for two months, the sport of the ^vinds and ocean currents.
Horrible were the sufferings of the crew. Scur^^, in its most ghastly
form, preyed upon them unchecked. Famine and disease w^ent
hand in hand. The surgeon's journal says: "The general distress
and mortality increased so fast that not only the sick died, but those
who pretended to be healthy, when relieved from their posts, fainted
CAPE HORN, Hudson's bay, and behrixg's straits. 59
and fell down dead; of which the scantiness of water, the want of
biscuits and brandy, cold, wet, nakedness, vei-niin, and terror, were
not the least causes." At last these horrors came to an end. On
the fifth of November they sighted a small island lying between the
Aleutian Archipelago and Kamtchatka, and running the vessel close
in they all landed, with the purpose of spending the \dnter. The
island was a small, rock}' speck on the bosom of the sea, consisting
of a few barren gi'anite peaks thrust up fi*om the water, whose sides
were continually lashed by a hea^y surf and upon which the waves
furiously dashed Avhen storms swept across the sui-face of the ocean.
Here, they lived u])on the flesh of fiu'-bearing animals which abounded
in the water, and up<ui the fish they were al)le to catch. Theu'
house was constructed of the timbers of their vessel, which was
wrecked upon the rocky coast during a gale immediately after they
disembarked, and whose broken pieces were washed up by the surf.
Their sufferings did not end with their removal to this new abode.
Disease had taken too firm a grasp upon tliat afilicted crew. Beh-
ring died on the eighth of December, and before spring thirty of
his followers also found a grave on those water- l>ound rocks. The
skins of slaughtered animals served them for ])otli clothes and bed-
ding. Had this island been located at the same latitude in the
Atlantic Ocean not one of these enfeebled men could have survived
the rigors of winter. Here the great ocean river, known as the
Japan Current, imparts its genial warmth to the islands of the
Aleutian A]*chi})elago and fiinges the icy peaks and glaciers of
Alaska ^^'ith a coast-line of verdure. Owing to this great modify-
ing element even floating ice fi'om the fi'ozen Arctic is not seen in
Behring's Sea, though on the Atlantic side the ocean is rendered
unsafe by floes and icebergs at a much lower latitude. Upon the
return of spring the survivors constructed a small vessel from the
wreck of the St Peter ^ and when that long task was finished, em-
barked and sailed directly westward, reaching the Bay of Avatscha
in August. That 1>leak island which had been their winter home,
and where were the graves of their commander and many of their
comrades, they christened "Behring's Isle," and as such it is known
to the present day.
Twenty years elapsed before another official exploration was
made, and half a century passed ere the full account of this fatal
60 HI8T0KY OF willamp:tte valley.
one was published to the world. Accompanying Behring on the
S^. Peter was a German surgeon and scientist named Steller, and
his journal, which was not published until 1795, long after the
Alaskan coast had been thorough^ explored by Spanish, Russian,
English and American navigators, is the only record preserved of
the adventures and terril^le sufferings endiu'ed by the discoverers of
Alaska. The general featui'es of the voyage, however, were well
known in Europe soon after its fatal termination. The skins which
the survivors wore when they returned to Avatscha were found to
be exceedingly valuable — probably seal and sea-otter — and several
private expeditions were fitted out by Russian traders, to visit the
islands lying to the eastward, in search of furs. In this way the
fur trade of the Pacific began, and before the government was pre-
pared for another expedition this ti'ade had reached considerable
proportions. Greenhow thus describes the infancy of this great
industry:^
The trade thus commenced was, for a time, carried on by individual adventurers,
each of whom was alternatelj^ a seaman, a hunter, and a mercliant; at length,
however, some capitalists in Siberia employed their funds in the pursuit, and expe-
ditions to the islands were, in consequence, made on a more extensive scale, and
with greater regularity and efficiency. Trading stations were established at partic-
ular points, where the furs were collected by persons left for that object ; and vessels
were sent, at stated periods, from the ports of Asiatic Russia, to carry the articles
required for the use of the agents and hunters, or for barter with the natives, and
to bring away the skins collected.
The vessels employed in this commerce were, in all respects, wretched and inse-
cure, the planks being merely attached together, without iron, by leathern thongs ;
and, as no instruments were used by the traders for determining latitudes and lon-
gitudes at sea, their ideas of the relative positions of the places which they visited
were vague and incorrect. Their navigation was, indeed, performed in the most
simple and unscientific manner possible. A vessel sailing from the Bay of Avat&cha,
or from Cape Lopatka, the southern extremity of Kamtchatka. could not have gone
far eastward, without falling in with one of the Aleutian islands, which would
serve as a mark for her course to another; and thus she might go on from point to
point throughout the whole chain. In like manner she M^ould return to Asia, and
if her course and rate of sailing were observed with tolerable care, there could
seldom be any uncertainty as to whether she were north or south of the line of the
islands. Many vessels were, nevertheless, annually lost, in consequence of this
want of knowledge of the coast, and want of means to ascertain positions at sea ;
and a large number of those engaged in the trade, moreover, fell victims to cold,
starvation and scurvy, and to the enmity of the bold natives of the islands. Even
as late as LS06, it was calculated that one-third of these vessels were lost in each
year. The history of the Russian trade and establishments in the North Pacific,
is a series of details of dreadful disasters and sufi'erings ; and, whatever opinion may
be entertained a.s to the humanity of the adventurers, or the morality of their pro-
CAPE Hoim, Hudson's bay, and behktng's steaits. 61
ceedings, the courage and perseverance displayed by them, in struggling against
such appalling difficulties, must command universal admiration.
The furs collected by these means, at Avatscha and Ochotsk, the principal fur-
trading points, were carried to Irkutsk,, the capital of Eastern Siberia, whence some
of them were taken to Eurojje ; the greater portion were, however, sent to Kiakta,
a small town just within the Russian frontier, close to the Chinese town of Maimat-
chin, through which places all the conmierce between these two empires passed,
agreeably to a treaty concluded at Kiakta in 172S. In return for the furs, which
brought higher prices in China than anywhere else, teas, tobacco, rice, porcelain,
and silk and cotton goods, were brought to Irkutsk, where all the most valuable of
these articles were sent to Europe. These transportations were effected by land,
except in some places where the rivers were used as the channel of conveyance, no
commercial exportation having been made from Eastern Russia by sea before 1770 ;
and when the immense distances between some of the points above mentioned are
considered (Irkutsk to Pekin, 1,300 miles; to Bay of Avatscha, 3,450 miles; to St.
Petersburg, 3. 760 miles), it becomes evident that none but objects of great value, in
comparison with their bulk, at the place of their consumption, could have been
thus transported with profit to those engaged in the trade, and that a large portion
of the price paid by the consumer must have been absorbed by the expense of trans-
portation. A skin was, in fact, worth at Kiakta three times as much as it cost at
Ochotsk.
For years the furs were conveyed to Pekin and St. Petersburg
overland, as described al)ove, China being then, as now, the general
fur market of the world. Not until 1771 was a cargo taken directly
by sea to Canton, and not until then was it known that the Bay of
Avatscha and the Chinese Sea were connected by water. For the
first time was realized the immense magnitude of the Pacific; that
the same waters which beat upon Behring's Isle washed the shores
of the thousand islands of the South Sea, gazed up at the frowning
rocks of Cape Horn, and bore the Spanish galleons on their long
voyage from Acapulco to the Indies. This innovation was not by
any means the result of Russian enterprise. A few of the patriotic
defenders of Poland, ^vho had been exiled to Sil)eria by the Russian
Czar, made their escape in a small vessel from a port on the south-
west coast of Kamtchatka, under the leadership of a Hungarian
exile, Count Maurice de Benyowsky. After much aimless wander-
ing among the Aleutian Islands, where they procured from the
natives a large quantity of furs, they sailed southward and finally
reached Canton, where their cargo found a good market. This was
the first vessel from the Russian Possessions of the Pacific to enter
the harbor of a foreign nation, and the spreading of the information
that rich fur regions at the north were accessible to Canton by sea
was one of the greatest factors in the subsequent rapid growth of
the fur trade.
62 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
The increasiiig value of the fur business led the Russian Govern-
ment to dispatch other exploring expeditions in 1766 and 1769.
They found the coast, wherever they reached the mainland at all,
fringed with islands and the sea through which they passed dotted
with them. That the land on the east side of Behring's Straits was
of considerable proportions was evident. This they called "Alaska,"
or "Aliaska," and supposed it to be a large island. In 1774 a map
was prepared, representing theii' ideas of the geography of Russian
America. Upon this the coast of America was represented as run -
ning northwesterly from California to the seventieth degree of lati-
tude, AN^hich was its extreme northern and western limit. Lying
between America and Asia, in that latitude, was a vast sea of islands,
of which the largest was Alaska, with only the channel of Behring's
Sti-aits separating it from the coast of Asia. With this map was
pul)lished an account of the last two voyages, the book being enti-
tled "Description of the Newly Discovered Islands in the Sea l)e-
tween Asia and America." Such was the Russian idea of a region
in which four official explorations had been made, and private enter-
prise had engaged in the fur trade for thirty years. It remained
for an Englishman, the celebrated Captain Cook, only a few years
later, to reveal to them their error. He commanded the first English
vessel to visit the North Pacitic, and in one voyage straightened out
the geographical ttingle the Russians had made in Alaska, and
reformed the ideas the Spaniards entertained al^out the coast they
had several times explored further to the south. Such was the
difference between scientific navigation and haphazard sailing.
CHAPTER VI.
FROM CAPTAIN CARVER TO CAPTAIN COOK.
The Jesuits Colonize Lower California — The Franciscans Enter Califor-
nia— Discovery of San Francisco Bay — Eai'ly Frencli Explorers —
The River of the West — Yerendrye Explores the Rocky Mou7itains —
— Fra.ihce Sells Louisiana to Sj)am and Looses Canada to England
hy Conquest — Journey of Captain Carver — He calls the River of
the West ^'■Oregon^^ — Argument upon the Origin of the Word "^Ore-
gon''^ — The Generally Accepted Spanish Theory does not Stand the
Light of Incestigation — The Hudson- s Bay Company'' s Policy of
Keeping the World Lguorant of the Geography of the Country Occu-
pied hy Them — Samuel Hearne Discovers Great Slave Lake^ Cop-
permine River and the Arctic Ocean — Russici's Activity in Alaska
Incites Spain to Renew her Explorations — Voyage of Perez and
Martinez — Perez enters Port San Lorenzo, or Nootka Sound — Mar-
tinez Claims to have Ohserved the Straits of Fuca — Voyage of Heceta
and Bodega y Quadra — Bellin-s Wonderful Chart — Discovery of
Trinidad Bay — fsla de Dolores, or Destruction Island— Heceta At-
tempts to Enter the Columbia — Spanish and English Methods of Ex-
plo'imtion Compared — Bodega ami Maurelle Discover Mount San
Jacinto, or Edgecumh — They Land and Take Possession for the King
of Spain — They Reach Latitude 58" and Return — England, in Alarm
at the Progress Made by Spain and Russia, Sends Captain Cook to
the Pacific — -His Partictilar Instructions — Cook Names the Sand-
vnch Islands, Cape Flattery and Nootka So%ind, and Searches for
the Straits of Fuca, River of Kings and Straits of Anian — He
Passes Through Behring'^s Straits and Around the Northwestern Ex-
tremity of Alaska — Winters in the Sandwich Islands and is Killed,
by the Natives — The Expedition Again Visits the Arctic, Takes a
Cargo of Furs to Canton and Returns to England — The Record of
the Voyage Pigeonholed Until the War is Over — Enterprise of John
CA HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
Ledyard — Arteaga, Bodega and Maurelle Follow Cook's Route Tip
the Coast.
DURING all tlie long absence of Spain from the North Pacific
she was not neglecting her interests still further to the south.
With the aV)andonnient of Otonclo's colony in Lower California in
l(iS<), a council of chief authorities in Mexico decided that the re-
duction of California by means of official colonies and expeditions
\vas impracticable. A few years later the Society of Jesus, whose
zealous missionaries had long since carried the cross into the remote
fi'ontiers of Mexico, solicited the privilege of planting a colony and
founding missions in Lower California; and though this was just
the object the go\'ernment had sought so long to accomplish, it
took- ten years to obtain the royal warrant, so jealous was the
throne of the growing power of the Jesuits. In 1697 the first mis-
sion was founded at Loretto, and in 1767, when the Society of
Jesus was deprived of all its property in the Spanish dominions
and its meml)ers thrown into prison upon the order of Charles III.,
there existed in Lower California sixteen thriving missions and
thirty-six villages. This rich inheritance was bestowed upon the
Dominicans, while at the same time the Franciscans were granted
full and exclusive authority to found missions in Alta California
and take possession in the name of the Spanish crown.
The first mission in Alta California was founded by Father
Junipero Serra at San Diego, July 16, 1769, which was followed
by that of San Carlos, at Monterey, August 3, 1770; San Antonio
de Padua, July 14, 1771; San Gabriel, near Los Angeles, Septem-
ber 8, 1771; San Luis Obispo, in September, 1772; Dolores, at
San Francisco, October 10, 1776; and others at later dates, to the
total iunn])er of twenty-two. The missions became so numerous
and powerful that the Mexican government began in 1824 a series
of hostile acts which ended in 1845 in their complete seculai'ization,
just one year bef(n'e the country was conquered by the United
States.
It was in 1769, while Gaspar de Portala, at the head of a [)arty
from San Diego, was searching for the Harbor of Monterey, that
the Bay of San Francisco was discovered and named. On the
thirtieth of October they came upon a bay which " they at once
FROM CAPTAIN CARVER TO CAPTAIN COOK. • 65
recognized," says Father Crespi, the historian who accompanied
them. There exists now no record of any prior discovery of the
great harbor at San Francisco, except the Manila chart previously
referred to, and it certainly seems strange that they would spend
nearly four months searching for such an inferior port as Monterey
at which to found a mission and harbor of refuge, when such a
glorious one existed only a few miles further north. They now re-
membered that Father Junipero Serra had been grieved because
the Visitadore General had neglected St. Francis, the patron saint
of the order, in selecting names for their future missions, and that
he had said, " If St. Francis wants a mission, let him show you a
good port and we will put one there." They believed that their
patron had purposely led them to this harbor, and they named it
" San Francisco," in his honor. It was first entered by a vessel in
June, 1775, when the San Carlos sailed through the Golden Gate
and cast anchor before the site upon which the pueblo (tow^n) of
Yerba Buena (now San Francisco) was afterward built.
Having seen the Spaniards take possession of California, it is
necessary to consider the relative claims of the contending nations
in North America, in order to fully understand the various acts of
each, which led to the discovery and settlement of Oregon. To do
this requires a return to the seventeenth century.
The Treaty of Ryswick was concluded in 1695, in which was a
provision defining the boundaries of the colonial possessions of the
various rival nations in America. This was definite and positive;
but, owing to the crude ideas of American geography which pre-
vailed at that time, was imperfect in many respects. Florida, as
the Spanish possessions north of Mexico were called, was bordered
on the north by the Carolinas, but further west the boundaries
were quite indefinite, conflicting with the Louisiana of the French.
France claimed as Louisiana all north of the mouth of the Missis-
sippi and west of the Alleghanies, the western boundary being in-
definite because no one knew how far toward the Occident the con-
tinent extended. She also claimed the region of the St. Lawrence
and the chain of great lakes under the general title of Canada,
these two provinces joining and interlacing without any line of di-
vision either expressed or understood. The Hudson's Bay country
was also claimc^l by France, though not with much persistence, and
66 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
it was at that time actually in the possession of England, in the
person of the Hudson's Bay Company. The English colonies were
east of the Alleghanies, from Main to Georgia. In 1713 France
relinquished tu England her claim upon the Hudson's Bay region,
and turned her attention to strengthening her position in Canada
and Louisiana.
During the latter part of the seventeenth century and the tirst
half of the eighteenth, French explorers and Jesuit missionaries
traversed the Mississip})i Valley, established a chain of stations be-
tween Canada and Louisiana, among them the city of St. Louis,
and even penetrated the unknown wildei-ness lying between the
headwaters of the Mississippi and the "Shining Mountains," as
they first called the liocky Mountains, whose snowy sides and
lofty spires oi rock reflected the bright rays of the sun hundreds of
miles to the westward. The most noted of these French pioneers
were La Salle, Pere Marquette, Baron La Hontan, Chevalier La
Verendrye and his sons. Father Hennepin, Dupratz and Charlevoix.
Nearly all of tliese wrote accounts of their travels, gave descriptions
of the country and the native tribes, and from their own observa-
tions and the information gleaned from the Indians made maps of
that region, embracing a little which they knew and a great deal
which they guessed at. These maps, to say the least, are very
(jueer. One of them, drawn in 1710 to show the results of a west-
ern journey accomplished by La Hontan, is especially odd. It
shows a great river (called the " Long River"), up which he passed,
as entering the Mississippi in the region of Dubuque, Iowa. This
was, beyond doul^t, the Missouri, though that stream is also repre-
sented in its proper place ^sdiere it unites with the " Feather of
Waters," and is made to extend almost due west to the mountains.
Passing across from the headwaters of the Mississippi and coming
upon the Missouri so far to the north, he naturally supposed it to
be another stream. Up this he followed, apparently branching off
to ascend the Platte. He describes th^ upper part of the stream as
a series of lakes and swamps. Some of his descriptions and the
features of his map are very peculiar, so nuich so that historians
have been inclined to doubt the extent of his journey. There is
one feature, however-, which tells in his favor. The map shows, at
some distance to the southwest of the point indicated as the west-
FROM CAPTAIN CARVER TO CAPTAITv^ COOK. 6(
ern limit of his wanderings, a large lake, which the Indians told
him contained bitter water. This was undoubtedly Great Salt
Lake, the one which years before the Indians of Mexico had en-
deav^ored to describe to the Spanish explorers. The lakes indicated
•as existing along the river beyond the point where the journey-
ended were probably so marked because he misunderstood the In-
dians when they spoke of the many large lakes existing in the
region to the westward.
One feature is very prominent in the reports of nearly all these
early French explorers — the fact that beyond the "Shining Moun-
tains " was a large river flowing westward to the " Great Water,"
in the latitude of the headwaters of the Mississippi, This they
learned from the Indians with whom they came in contact. Though,
with the exception of the Verendryes and their successors in com-
mand along the Saskatchewan, probably none of them went further
west than the Red River of the North; still the Indians of that
region, in the years of peaceful intercourse or bloody hostilities with
the tribes beyond the mountains, must have become sufficiently
familiar with the geography of the country lying between the Rocky
Mountains and the Paciflc to know of the existence of such a large
stream as the Columl)ia, When the trappers appeared among the
Cheyennes, Crows, Blackfeet, Pawnees, Sioux, and other tribes,
early in the present century, they found them to be possessed of
quite an intimate knowledge of the topography of the country west
of the mountains occupied by the Shoshones, Bannocks, Flatheads
and Nez Perces, and there is no reason to suppose that a hundred
years earlier their knowledge was not nearly as great. The asser-
tion that a great river existed beyond the mountains was not like
those tales of the " City of Quivira " and the " Land of Cibola,"
which led the Spaniards to take such long journeys into the deserts
of Mexico and Arizona two centuries before. Coming from differ-
ent tribes, through sources that were recognized as being totally
distinct, it was accepted as a geographical fact that such a river
existed, and a stream of that nature was indicated on the maps of
the period, bearing the various titles of " River of the West,"
"River Thegayo," "Rio de los Reyes" (the mythical stream of
Admiral Fonte), and " Rio de Aguilar " (the one whose mouth
Aguilar claimed to have discovered in 1603), The most definite
08 HISTOHY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
puljli.shed account of this great stream was giveu by Lepage Dupratz,
a French traveler of note, who received it from a Yazoo Indian.
It was to the effect that this Indian ascended the Missouri north -
westerl}^ to its head, and going still further west came upon another
large river flowing to the westward. He passed down the stream
until he was compelled to halt, because of a war existing between
the natives living along its banks and a tribe further west. He
] )articipnte(l in the hostilities, during which his fi'iends captured a
st[uaw of the western tribe, and from her he learned that the river
flowed mau}^ miles until it emptied into a great water where ships
had l)een seen, on which were men with beards and white faces.
The geogra[)hical statements are so accurate that there is no room
to doul)t the knowledge of the Yazoo savage of the existence of the
Columbia Iliver; but his statement about ships and white men is
historically impossible, since no vessel had ever visited the mouth
of the Coliun})ia, or even been so far north as that, unless it
l)e admitted that Sir Francis Drake reached latitude 48'* and was
near enough to the coast to have the faces and beards of his
men recognized; V)ut that was a century and a half before, and if
his visit ^vas known to the Indians at all it would probably be in
the form of a legend al)out a great white bird that swam in the
water, or the canoe of the Great Spirit. That portion of the story
was prol)ably a creation of the Indian, or an amplification of the
tale, made by Dupratz himself.
De L'Isle, geographer of the Academy of Science, Paris, wrote
March 15, 171(): "They tell me that among the Scioux of the
Mississippi there are always Frenchmen trading; that the course of
the Mississippi is from north to west, and from west to south | evi-
dently the Mississippi is here confounded with the Missouri], from
that it is known that to^vards the source there is in the highlands a
river that leads to the western ocean." De L'Isle warmly urged
the government to explore the far West, in search of this river and
the " Western Ocean" into which it flowed, and was seconded in
his efforts by a h'urned priest named Bode. Temporary posts had
])een establislied many years before in various parts of Minnesota.
Du Luth luiilt one near the head of Lake Superior, in 1678; Per-
rot founded another below Lake Pepin, in 1683 ; a stockade was
erected above Lake Pepin on Prairie Island, in 1695, and Le Sear
FROM CAPTAIK (\\RVEK TO CAPTAIN COOK. 69
had a post in 1700 on the Blue Earth, near the site of Mankato.
The importunities of De L'Isle and Pere Bode caused the govern-
ment to liegin an energetic policy of M'estern exploration and occu-
pation in 1717, commencing with the re-establishment of the fort
of Du Lutli and another further west among the Sioux. Other
])osts followed in rapid succession. In 1728, Seur de la Verendrye,
who was in command of these advanced posts, received such definite
information of the " Shining Mountains " from the Indians, and of
the great river beyond them which fl(^wed towards the western sea,
that he decided to make a systematic exploration of those unknown
regions. His application for authorit}' was favorably considered by
Charles de Beauharnois, Governor-deneral of Canada, and orders
were given for tlie fitting out of an expedition.
In 1731 two sons of the Chevalier Verendrye left Montreal with
a detachment of fifty men, their father not joining them until two
years later. They reached Rainey Lake in the fall, and at the foot
of the lake built Fort St. Pierre, named in honor of their father,
whose baptismal name was Pierre. Next year they established
Fort St. Charles, named in honor of the Governor-Greneral, on the
southwestern shore of the Lake of the Woods. Further on they
built a post on the Assiniboine, five leagues from Lake Winnipeg,
and Fort Maurepas, on Winnipeg River. In June, 1736, a party
of twenty-six, among whom was the younger son of the Chevalier,
were massacred by the Sioux Indians while encamped on a small
island in the Lake of the Woods. In October, 1788, the A'eren-
dryes built Fort La Reine, further west on the Assiniboine, which
became their base of operations. In 1742 the two sons of the
Chevalier left Fort La Reine with a small party for the purpose of
fully exploring the "Shining Mountains." They followed up
Mouse River in a s(nitherly direction to the country of the Mandans
(called by them " Montanes"), crossed the Missouri a little l)elow
the site of Fort Berthold, and ascended the stream to the canyon
below Helena, making a portage around the Great Falls, which
they described in their report, differing in no essential particular
from the description given by Lewis and Clarke sixty-two years
later. At this point, now known as the " Gateway of the Moun-
tains," they ascended the summit of the range on the 12th day of
January, 1743, not far from Bear Tooth Peak, of which they speak
To HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
as a tusk-shaped mouiitaiu. The}' then passed up Deep Creek
(Smith River), crossed the mountains to the headwaters of the
Musselshell, and thence across to the Yellowstone at the mouth of
Pryor Kiver. They followed up this stream to the Stinkmg Water,
and on over the mountains to Wind River. Here their progress
was arrested by a tierce w^ar raging between the Snakes and Sans
Arc branch of the Sioux; but they were told ])y the friendly Snakes
of the location of Tongue and Green Rivers. They then returned
to the Upper Missoiu'i, and raised a monument of stone near the
mouth of the Jefferson — in what they called the " Petite Cerise ''
(Choke Cherry country) — as a witness that they took possession of
the country in the name of the King of France. This they chris-
tened " Beauharuois," and beneath it deposited a leaden plate l^ear-
ing the French coat-of-arms. ■ This ceremony of dedication ^vas per-
formed May 19, 1744. They then resumed the home^vard journey.
North of the Assinil:)oine they explored the Saskatchewan — called
by them " Poskoiac " — as far as the forks, and Ijuilt two forts, one
near Lake Dauphin ( Sw^an Lake) and the other on the " River des
Riches." They reached the Lake of the Woods on the 2d of July,
and reported the northern route by the Saskatchewan as preferable
to the Missouri, because of the absence of danger of meeting Span-
iards, whom they feared might be encountered further south. The>'
^v^ould not have felt so much solicitude on the subject if the}^ had
been aAvare that the Jesuit missions in the extreme southern portion
of the peninsula of Lower California were the farthest ni^'th of the
Spanish colonies of the Pacific Coast.
Before starting upon theii- two years' journey they had been in-
formed by the Indians that the " Shining Mountains " were full of
gold. When they reached the mountains they were disappointed to
find that it was not gold, but barren rock and snow, which reflected
the rays of the sun so brightly, and they changed their name to
" Stony, or Rock}-, Mountains." The fiu'thest west the information
gained ])y the Verendrye brothers extends is to the Flathead Indians,
of whom they speak, living just west of the main chain of the
Rockies and within the limits of Oregon, as that territory existed
when it was in dispute betw^een the United States and Great Britain,
but now in the western extremity of Montana. They encountered
a band of Flatheads, who told them of their country west of the
FROM CAPTAIN OAKVEK TO CAPTAIN COOK. 71
mountains, and of the great lake from which a river ran. This
lake, they understood the Indians to say, was the source of a tribu-
tary of the Missouri, but the cause of their error is e\ddent, as Sun
River ilo\^"s fri^m the mountains in that direction. They were also
told of the great river running Avestward to the ocean, but were not
able to cross the di\dde to explore it. The river to w^hich the Indians
referred was probably the stream first reached by Lewis and Clarke
when they crossed the main divide, and which the}^ named " Clarke\s
River." The stream is noAv known at various points along its
course as '' Deer Lodge,'' '' Ilellgate," " Bitter -Root," "Missoula,"
"Clarke's Fork," and "Pend d'Oreille," though a commendable
fidelity to history, and a proper regard for the honor of one of our
greatest explorers, demands that the use of every name but that of
"Clarke's River" to be at once abandoned.
The Chevalier Vereudrye was relieved of his command of the
frontier soon after this expediticHi, but was restored a few years later
by Galissonere, the successor of Beauharnois. He died December
6, 1749, while planning a t<^ur up the Saskatchewan. His son w^as
deposed by Jonquierre, the next Governor -General, who dispatched
two expeditions in search of the Pacific. One of these was com-
manded by St. Pierre, and was to ascend the Saskatchewan, while
the other, headed l)y Marin, was to go up the Missouri. St. Pierre
excited the hostility of the Kinsteneaux Indians, who attempted to
kill him ; and though they failed in this they succeeded in burning
P^ort La Reiiie. He sent Lieutenant Bouchet de Neville to establish
a post at the head of the Saskatchewan. This effort proved a failure
because of sickness, l^ut in 1753 some of the men established Fort
Jonquierre in tlie Rocky Mountains. In 1754 St. Pierre was relieved
by De la Crone, and the following year fell in the battle before
Fort St. George. The proposed expedition of Marin up the Mis-
souri was a complete failure.
The explorations of these French travelers ended with the war
betw^een England and France, which" was participated in by their
respective colonies in America, and which is known on this side of
the Atlantic as the " French and Indian War." As that struggle
drew toward its close, and France realized that her possessions in
America were about to fall into the grasp of her immemorial enemy,
she secretly conveyed to Spain her pro\dnce of Louisiana. When
72 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
the gallant Wolfe died upon the Plains of Abraham in the very
moment of triumph, one of the prizes to be gained by this crown-
ing victory of tlie war had abeady passed into the keeping of an-
other. Louisana belonged to Spain. The treaty of Paris, in 1768,
conveyed Canada to Great Britain, and thus France was shorn of
all her possessions in America. All these frontier posts were al)an-
doned, and the Rocky Mountains again became the undisputed
home of the aborigine.
We now approach the memorable journey of the none too vera-
cious Captain Carver, the man who stands sponsor for the word
" Oregon." This has led, by reason of the superficiality of many
historical writers, to the bestowing upon him of all the credit of
making known to tlie world the existence of the Colund)ia River,
when the fact is that it was known long before his doubtful journey,
and his account of it, so far from l)eing ^\Titten upon original infor-
mation, was but the re -publication of facts made known by the
French explorers above mentioned, many years before. Jonathan
Carver was a native of Connecticut, and served with gallantry as a
captain of the English colonial army in the wai* mth Fi'ance, which
was terminated by the Treaty of Paris in 17(33. He then conceived
the idea of exploring the western portion of England's new posses-
sions. In 1766 he left Boston, and going by the way of Detroit
and Fort Michilimacinac, reached the headwaters of the Mississippi.
Thus far historians admit that he traveled, probably to the Lake
Park region of Minnesota, where rise streams flo^^dng into the Mis-
sissippi, the Missouri and the Red River of the North. Carver's
claim to extensive traveling west of the headwaters of the Missis-
sippi, covering a period of five months, is a very doubtful one;
since his descriptions of the names, manners and customs of the Indian
tril^es of that region are but the translations into English of the
works of the earlier French explorers. His object, as stated in
the introduction to his book was, " after gaining a knowledge of
the manners, customs, languages, soil and natural productions of the
different nations that inhabit the back of the Mississippi, to ascer-
tain the breadth of the vast continent w^hich extends fi'om the At-
lantic to the Pacific Ocean, in its broadest part, between the forty-
third and forty -sixth degrees of north latitude. Had I been able to
accomplish this^ I intended to have proposed to the government to
FROM CAPTAIK CARVER TO CAPTAIN COOK. ^ 73
establish a post in some of those parts, about the Straits of Anian,
which, having been discovered by Sir Francis Drake, of course be-
longs to the English." The captain exposes his want of fitness as a
geographer or historian by asserting that Drake discovered the
Straits of Anian. The circumstances of Drake's voyage were more
widely known than those of any other navigator, and in neither of
the two accounts pul^lished was there a statement that the great
r()l)]ier had discovered those m^^-hical straits, or any other passage
leading inland fi'om the Pacific. Carver did not seem to consider his
adventures or discoveries worthy of publication until twenty years
later, at a time Avhen unusual interest was felt in England in the
discover}^ of the Northwest Passage, to find Avhich the celebrated
Captain Cook had just been disj^atched on a voyage of exploration
to the North Pacific. Carver was at that time living in London in
much financial distress, and his fi'iends advised him to take advan-
tage of the public interest to publish a book. He consequently
wrote one, evidently compiled in a large measure from the narratives
before alluded to, large portions of them being translated literally
into English. He died in 1780 in extreme penury. The only
interest this work or its author can have to modern histoi'ians, is the
appearance therein of the word " Oregon," the first use of that
term which has anpvhere been discovered. It a])]3ears in the fol-
lowing connection :
From these natives, together with my own observations, I have learned that the
four most capital rivers on the continent of North America, viz.: — the St. Lawrence,
the Mississippi, the River Bourbon (Red River of the North), and the Oregon, or
River of the West— have their sources in the same neighborhood. The waters of
the three former are within thirty miles of each other ; [this is practically correct,
and this point, somewhere in Western Minnesota, is probably the limit of his west-
ward journey,] the latter, however, is rather further west. This shows that these
parts are the highest in North America ; and it is an instance not to be paralleled
in the other three-quarters of the world, that four rivers of such magnitude should
take their rise together, and each, after running separate courses, discharge their
waters into different oceans, at the distance of two thousand miles from their
sources, for in their passage from this spot to the Bay of St. Lawrence, east, to the
Bay of Mexico, south, to Hudson's Bay, north, and to the Bay at the Straits of
Anian, west, each of these traverse upwards of two thousand miles.
In this statement Carver does not claim to have visited the head-
waters of the River Oregon, or even to know their exact location.
He expressly observes that he derived his information chiefly "from
74 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
these natives," and it is possible that even from them it reached him
through the medium of his French predecessors.
Whence Carver derived his authority for calling the River of the
West " Oregon " has been a matter of much discussion. Though
it is now generally admitted that the word originated with Carver
himself, or ^vas supposed b}- him to be the name of the stream from
some half- understood words uttered by the Indians in referring to
it; yet there are many who are not content unless they can build up
some theory founded upon a similarity of sound, and plausible only
to those who are ignorant of the details of the early explorations in
the Pacific. Of these the one most generally accepted in Oregon is
the following from the pen of Archl)ishop Blanchet, sj^eaking of
himself in the third person: —
Jonathan Carver, an English captain in the wars by which Canada came into
the possession of Great Britain, after the peace, left Boston, June 6, 1766, crossed the
continent to the Pacific, and returned October, 1768. In relation to his travels,
which were published in 1774, and republished in 1778, he is the first who makes
use of the word "Oregon." The origin of that word has never been discovered in
the country. The first Catholic missionaries— Father Demers, now Bishop of Van-
couver Island, and Father Blanchet, now Bishop of Oregon City— arrived in Oregon
in 1838. They traveled through it for many years, from south to north, from west
to east, visiting and teaching the numerous tribes of Oregon, Washington Territory
and British possessions. But in all their various excursions among the Indians
they never succeeded in finding the origin of the word " Oregon." Now it appears
that what could not be found in Oregon has been discovered by Archbishop Blan-
chet in Bolivia, when he visited that country, Chile and Peru in 18-5o and 1857.
The word "Oregon," in his opinion, most undoubtedly has its root in the Spanish
word oreja (ear), and came from the qualifying word orejon (big ear). For it is
probable that the Spaniards, who first discovered and visited the country, when
they saw the Indians with big ears, enlarged by the load of ornaments, were natur-
ally inclined to call them orejon (big ears). That nickname, first given to the In-
dians, became also the name of the country. This explains how Captain Carver
got it and first made use of it. But the travelers, perhajDS Carver himself, not
knowing the Spanish language, nor the peculiar pronunciation of the j in Spanish,
for facility sake would have written it and pronounced it Oregon, instead of Orejon,
in changing J to g. Such, in all i^robability, must be the origin of the word " Ore-
gon." It comes from the Spanish word Orejon.
This is certainly a scientific explanation, and were it only sus-
tained })y facts would be a satisfactory one; it will not, however,
stand for a moment the licrht of investio^ation. At the time Carver
made his journey no Spanish explorer had set foot in Oregon nor
had the least communication with its native inhabitants ; they were
not even familiar enough ^vith the coast line to be aware of the
existence of the Columbia River. The only expeditions had been
PEOM CAPTAIN CAKVER TO CAPTAIN COOK. 75
those of Ferrelo and Aguilar, and neither of these had even made
an attempt to land. Consequently they had not and could not
apply the title Orejon to its inhabitants — people whom they had
never seen and of whom they knew nothing. No allusion is made
to the natives of this unknown land in the record of any Spanish
explorer pre^^ous to that date, and the Bishop's supposition that
they " discovered and visited this country," shows how unfamiliar
he was with the history of Spanish explorations on the Pacific Coast.
His assertion that Carver crossed the continent to the Pacific is
equally at variance with the facts. The word " Oregon " was un-
known to the Indians until after the country was visited by trap-
pers, and the Bishop himself 1;)ears testimony to the fact that in
all their extensive travels ajnong the natives he and his missionary
associates were unable to find authority for its use. Thus we see
that the Spaniards had not visited Oregon, and kno^ying nothing of
its inha]:)itants could not have called them " big ears " ; that Carver
did not visit the Columbia; that the word "Oregon" was unknown
by the Indians, and, therefore, could not have been conveyed by
them from tribe to tribe until it reached Carver's ears ; therefore,
the Bishop's theory is untenable.
Equally so is the idea that Oregon was the Indian name of the
Columbia, since if such were the case the early settlers of this region
would have learned the name fi'om the natives, instead of ha\ang
to teach it to them. The same objections are valid to the theory
that the early Spanish explorers bestowed the name because of the
\dld majoram {origmium) found along the coast, since we have seen
that the Spaniards had never set foot on the coast of Oregon, and
that the name nowhere appears in Spanish records. If euphony of
sound is to be relied upon, coml)ined with the popular but errone-
ous idea that Oregon was explored in early times l)y the Spaniards,
then the ^^^[•iter desires to announce that he, also, has a theory — that
in sailing along the coast some romantic Spaniard conceived a
resemblance between the graceful siunmits of the Coast Range and
the blue hills of his native Aragon, and bestowed that name upon
this new" land. To support this he calls attention to the fact that
the Spaniards named Mexico "New Spain"; the Dutch called their
settlement on the Atlantic coast " New Amsterdam," it being sub-
sequently christened "New York" by the English; the region set-
76 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
tied by the Puritans and the Massachusetts Colony was named "New
England"; and the French at one time called Canada "New
France." Instances of this kind might be easily multiplied, though,
perhaps, the nearest and most convincing is the bestowal of the title
" New Alljion " upon California l^y Sir Francis Drake, because of
the chalky l)luffs lie had observed along the coast. Profound and
brilliant as the ^viiter conceives this theory to be, he feels compelled
to give place to the Irishman, who believed Oregon to be named in
honor of his royal ancestors, the O'Regons. There we have not
only euphony of sound, l)ut correct orthography, coml^ined with a
proper degree of ignorance upon the subject.
The traditionary policy of the Hudson's Bay Compaii;\' to head
off, or i-ender nugatory, all attempts by the government to explore
its chartered domains in search of the Straits of Aniaii, or some
other passage into the Pacific Ocean from the North Atlantic, was
strictly adhered to during the eighteenth century. They did not
want the govermnent itself nor the people to have any knowledge
whatever of the regions lying contiguous to Hudson's Bay. To
that end they kept to themselves all geographical knowledge gained
year by year by their representatives in the course of business trans-
actions, or when sent upon special journeys of exploration by the
company. In 1745 Parliament offered a i-eward of £20,000 to any
one discovering a passage into the Pacific fi'om Hudson's Bay, but
no one made a serious effort to earn the money. The company
was powerful enough to prevent it. Nearly thii'ty years later,
howevei-, having become satisfied fi'om information gathered by
theu' employees that no such passage existed, they dispatched
Samuel Hearne in search of a copper mine, of which much had
been said by the Indians, and which was to l)e found on the bank
of a stream called l)y the natives the "Far-off Metal River." That
they might have the credit of exerting themselves in searching for
the passage whose discovery had ostensibly been one of the leading
objects in organizing the company, they instructed Hearne to keep
his weather eye open for the Straits of Anian, and permitted it to
be understood that this was the chief aim of his journey. The first
object of note discovered by Hearne was Great Slave Lake, and he
followed this and the connecting system of lakes and the Copj)er-
mine River to the point of its discharge into the Arctic Ocean.
FROM CAPTAIN CARVER TO CAPTAIN COOK. 77
The Coppermine lie believed to be tlie stream to A\'liicli the Indians
referred, but he found the proverbial enchantment of distance was
alone responsible for the stories of its great richness in copper, and
that, so far as minerals were concerned, his journey and sufferings
— for he endured many hardships and privations — had been in vain.
The Arctic he eoncei\'ed to be an inland sea, similar to Hudson's
Bay, and such he reported it upon his retiu'n to the company's
headquarters; also that no ^vater passage connected the two great
b<^dies of water. Though the journal ke})t bv' llearne was not
pul)lished for twenty years, the company immediately comnumi-
cated to the admii-alty the failure of Hearne to discover any North-
west Passage. This seemed to end all hope of tinding such a
waterway leading out of Hudson's Bay; l)Ut the discovery of the
new sea opened the door to new hopes. There might be a means of
conmmnication l)et\\eeii it and Baffin's Bay, and from it might
possibly l)e found the long-sought Sti'aits of Anian, leading into the
Pacific. It certainly resembled Maldonado's " North Sea."
The rapidity ^vith which Russia was extending her outposts in
Alaska began to cause serious alarm in Spain. Inactivity and
apparent apathy had marked the conduct of that nation for a
century and a half, so far as the region lying north of CVilifornia was
concerned. This, however, was not caused by lack of interest, but
by circumstances easily understood. All voyages of exploration
had to be made at the expense of the Viceroy's treasury, and this
the chief executive in the New^ World objected to. As long as
Spain was not threatened with the loss of exclusive dominion on
the Pacific Coast, there was nothing to ai'ouse the government to
action; nor was there anything in those unknown regions which
was sufficiently tempting to indnce the Viceroy to undergo the
expense of a voyage of exploration unless stimulated by the positive
orders of the crown. Now", however, affairs presented a different
aspect. The extent of Russian exploration and occupation of the
North Pacific were unknowTi; no definite information had been
received ; the report of none of the Russian voyages had been pub-
lished; yet that Russia was making quite extensive discoveries in
that region was well known in Europe, and it caused much anxiety
in Spain. She was aroused to the display of great activity,
apparently combined with a purpose of discovering and taking
78 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
possession of all the coast not already occupied by the Muscovites.
The first movement made by Spain was the colonizing of Cali-
fornia, previously spoken of. The next was a series of explorations
bv sea. January 25, 1774, the corvette Santiago sailed fi'om San
Bias, conmiauded by Juan Perez, and piloted by Estivan Martinez.
Perez Avas instructed to proceed as far north as the sixtieth degree
of latitude, and then to return slowly along the coast, landing at
sundr\' accessible points to take possession in the name of the King.
The Santiago touched at San Diego and Monterey. He sailed fi'om
the latter port on tlie sixteenth of June, and sighted land again
thirty- two days later, in latitude 54°, off the coast of Queen
Charlotte Islands. Warned by the appearance of the dreaded
scurvy among his crcA^- that the voyage could not be prolonged,
Perez turned about and coasted along to the southward. For a
hundred miles he thus followed the coast, enjoying a highly jn-oiit-
able trade in furs with the natives, who came out to the vessel in
great ccUioes and exclianged sea otter and other valuable skins for
merest trifles. A storm then di'ove the Santiago seaward, and she
did not again make the land until the ninth of August, when she
anchored at the entrance of a deep water bay in latitude 49°
and 30'. In the direction of nomenclature the Spaniards were
never at a loss, ])rovided not more than one name was required
per day. Whenever an object was discovered of sufficient impor-
tance to require christening, the devout Catholic turned to his Roman
calendar, and whatever saint was found to have l)een declared by
the Church to be worthy of special honor upon that day, the name
of that canonized mortal was bestowed upon it. Following this
rule Perez discovered that the pro])er name of this harl^or was " San
Lorenzo," and that name he entered upon his journal and chart.
This harl>or was afterward re -christened by the English, and is now
known as "King George's Sound," or " Nootka Sound." It lies
on the west coast of Vancouver Island, and was a few years later
the scene of an interesting episode which nearly precipitated a
bloody conflict between Great Britain and Spain. Perez stopped
for a few days to trade with the natives, of whose intelligence and
light complexion he makes special mention, and then continued
southward. He observed Mount Ol^nnpus, in latitude 47° and 47',
which he christened "Sant^ Rosalia." A few days later he sighted
FEOM CAPTAIJs^ CARVER TO CAPTAIN COOK. 79
Cape Mendocino, whose exact latitude he ascertained, and in tine
time arrived at Monterey, ha^dng by his snj)eriicial method added
but little to geographical knowledge. Many years afterward, when
the Straits of Fnca had been discovered by an English captain, and
Spain was eager to prove a prior discovery, Martinez, the pilot of
the Santiago^ declared that he had observed a l)road opening in
the coast line l)etween latitudes 4<S" and 49", and that he had be-
stowed his own name upon the point of land at its entrance on
the south. Though there was nothing recorded in the journal of
the voyage, Spanish geographers accepted this (|uestional)le state-
ment as vrorthy of credence, and designated upon their maps as
"Cape Martinez" the headland now known as "Cape Flatterv."
x\ second expedition was dispatched the folloAving year, witli in-
structions to proceed as far north as the sixty-lifth parallel. This
was composed of two vessels, the Santiago, commanded by Bruno
Heceta, and piloted by Perez, its former captain ; and the Soiwi-a,
under Juan de Ayala, whose pilot was Antonio Maurelle. A French
geographer named Bellin had prepai'ed a chart of the Pacific, founded
upon printed reports and rumored discoveries made by various
nations, a chai-t which was " wonderfully and fearfully made." It is
difficult to conceixe how such a nuip could have been produced ;
certainl}' nothing Init the phosphorescent intellect of a Frenchman
could have evolved such a geographical monstrosity. With Bellin's
chart, the latest issued, the explorers were supplied, and it is a fact
far from creditable that Sj^aniards had made so long a voyage the
year befoi'e without being able to correct any of its excentricities.
The Santiago and Sonora, accompanied by the San Carlos, sailed
fi'ora San Bias, March 15, 1775, and proceeded to Monterey. There
Ayala was transferred to the San Carlos, Lieutenant Juan Fran-
cisco de la Bodega y Quadra succeeding to the command of the
Sonora. The latter vessel and the Santiago then sailed from Mon-
terey on their voyage of discovery. On the ninth of June they
anchored in an open roadstead some distance north of Cape Men-
docino, calling it Port Trinidad for the all -satisfying reason that the
day mentioned was dedicated in the calendar to the Holy Trinity.
This is the same Bay of Trinidad which caused so much excitement
among the gold hunters in 1850, and the follo^ving year became the
landing place for the devotees of " Gold Blu£P." Having spent nine
80 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
days at Trinidad, the vessels again put to sea, and did not sight
land again till in latitude 48° and 27', according to their somewhat
faulty reckoning, being almost at the entrance of the Straits of Fuca.
The Greek pilot had located his passageway between latitudes 47°
and 48° ; and it being thus indicated on Bellin's chart, the ex-
plorers turned to the southward to search for what was almost
within the horizon line on the north. Of course they found nothing.
The only adventure worthy of note in that region, was the killing
of seven of the Sonorci s crew by the Indians. This occurred on the
mainland near a small island in latitude 47°, which was named
"Isla de I)(»h)res" (Island of Sorrows), the title, as usual, being
dictated by tlie calendar. It was afterward christened " Destruction
Island'' b>' an English captain who lost a boat's crew near that
point m precisely the same manner.
Here Heceta became alarmed at the ravages the dreaded scurvy
was committing, and desired to return before his crews entii'ely
succumbed to the scourge. He was persuaded to continue the
voyage, Init a few days later a storm separated the two consorts,
and Heceta at once headed his vessel for Monterey. He observed
land in latitude 50°, being the southwest portion of Vancouver
Island, but overlooked the Port San Lorenzo of Perez, and the
Straits of Fuca, l^eginning again the search for the latter in latitude
48°. He made a great discovery on the fifteenth of August,
1775, being no less than the entrance to the Columbia River.
While sailing quietly along the coast he suddenly noticed an open-
ing in the land fi-om which flowed a stream of water with great
force. He endeavored to enter, but the ciu-rent was too strong, alid
for a whole day he was thus baffled in his efforts to explore what
he was satisfied was the channel of a great river, perhaps the Rio
de Aguilar, or, possibly, the Straits of Fuca, for which he had been
so diligently searchhig. He at last abandoned the effort and sailed
again toward Monterey, obser\dng, for the first time, the coast of
Oregon with sufficient carefulness to enter upon his journal quite
accurate descriptions. This was the first time the coast of Oregon
was actually ex])lored by the Spaniards, or any other nation, being
a year later than the first publication of Carver's book containing
the word " Oregon," and nineteen years after the journey of which
the volume treated. It is plainly e\adent that the name was not
FROM CAPTAIN CARVER TO CAPTAIN COOK. 81
bestowed by the Spaniards. Upon his chart Heceta entered the
river he had discovered not as a river, since he had not proved it to
be such, but as an inlet, calling it " Ensenada de Asuncion." This
name was bestowed for the all-sufficient reason, to a Spaniard,
that the fifteenth of August was the day of the Assumption. The
sixteenth was devoted by the calendar to the glorification of
Saint Roc, and he therefore called the promontory on the north
" Cabo de San Roque." The calendar having been exhausted he
was compelled to bestow a more sensible title upon the low point
of land on the south, which he christened " Cabo de Frondoso "
(Leafy Cape). Maps made by the Spaniards thereafter had in-
dicated upon them an indentation in the shore line at this point,
variously marked " Ensenada de Heceta " and " Rio de San Roque,"
according as the map-maker believed it to be a river or simply an
inlet.
While Heceta was making these discoveries Bodega and Mau-
relle were still sailing northward in the little Sonora, endeavoring
to obey their instructions. It was, apparently, the policy of Span-
ish explorers to give the land as wide a berth as possible. English
navigators always kept as close in shore as circumstances would
permit, carefully examining every bay and inlet, making fi'equent
observations and copious entries upon theii* journals. When their
voyage was completed they were prepared to make an approximately
correct map of the coast, accompanied by long and careful descrip-
tions. Not so with the Spaniards. They kept well out to sea,
sighting land here and there, and when they returned were utterly
unable to report anything save that they had sailed to a certain lat-
itude and had seen land several times during the voyage. Whether
the land observed was an island or a portion of the continent, or
whether the coast line was continuous, or was much indented with
V)ays and inlets, they could not tell. This is why the Spaniards,
even after the voyages of Perez, Heceta and Bodega, were utterly
unable to prepare a map of the coast which was the least approach
to the original. It was now they began to appreciate the beauties
of Bellin's Chart, which had been prepared partly from the worth-
less reports of their predecessors, partly from the reports of equally
superficial Russian explorers, and partly from imagination. On the
sixteenth of August, when the chart assured them they were one
82 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
luindred and thirty-live leagues distant from the American shore —
and it is difficult to understand how they could flatter themselves
that they were exploring a coast line which was one liundred and
thirty -five leagues distant — they suddenly discovered laud both to
the north and east of them. They were then above the fifty -sixth
parallel, in the vicinity of a huge snow-mantled peak, rising abruptly
from a headland on the coast, which they christened " Mount San
Jacinto.'' This is the one named "Mount Edgecunib" by Captain
C/Ook, and (Stands on the chief island of King George IIL's Archi-
pelago. Supposing it to be a portion of the main land, the Span-
iards landed to take possession in the name of their sovereign.
They planted a cross, with appropriate ceremonies, and were busily
engaged in procuring a supply of fish and fresh water, when they
wei-e suddenly interrupted by the native proprietors. The cross
was uprooted in scorn and those who had erected it were given to
understand that a hasty departure would be agreeable, though they
were not permitted to make so much haste that payment for the
fish and water was neglected. Thus ended the first efFort of Spain
to take possession of the coast north of California. They then
continued their northward journey as far as latitude 58*", when
Bodego decided to begin the homeward voyage and explore the
coast line more thoroughly. They searched carefully for the Rio
de los Reyes as far south as latitude 54'^, but did not find it; nor
would they have found it had it been in existence, since Admiral
Fonte located his wonderful stream under the fifty -third parallel.
They landed again on the twenty-foui'th of August, in a little harbor
on the west coast of Prince of Wales Island, where they took pos-
session without interference from the Indiana, and named the place
" Port Bucareli," in honor of the Viceroy under whose directions
they were acting, and whose proud privilege it was to pay the ex-
penses of the voyage. Occasionally observing the coast south of
this y)oint, they began again, in latitude 45°, to scrutinize the
( )i'ego7i shore in search of AguilarV Ri^•er, and though they ol)-
served several streams of water entering the sea, they were not of
sufficient magnitude to indicate a large stream, such as Aguilar re-
j)orted having seen near the forty-third parallel in 1608. They
did, however, ol)serve a prominent headland answering Aguilar's
description of Cape Blanco. Their next stopping place was in a bay
FEOM CAPTAIN CAKVER TO CAPTAIN COOK. 83
wMcli the Sonora entered on the third of October, and which Bo-
dega supposed was the Bay of San Francisco. He learned later
that it was a much smaller one lying a little further north, and this
has ever since been known as Bodega Bay.
These three voyages justly entitled Spain to a claim to the entire
coast fi'om Cape Mendocino to Mount San Jacinto by title of explo-
ration. If that title was of any value, it belonged to Spain ; but in
these modern times, possession is a far stronger title than simple
discovery, and the United States found the claim accpiii-ed from
Spain hard to defend against England's actual possession of the^oil.
In fact, had she depended upon it at all Oregon would now be a
province of Great Britain. Accounts of these important voyages
did not reach the public through the medium of the press; yet the
fact that the Spaniards had made several important voyages in the
Pacific, and were e\"idently seeking to take possession of the entire
coast, soon became known in England, and created' great uneasi-
ness. She could not stand supinely by and see her ancient enemy
secure a teriitory which she had coveted for years, ever since the
marauding expedition of Sii* Francis Drake two centuries before,
but which, as yet, she had made no direct effort to reach fi'om the
Pacific side. This year, 1776, saw England involved in war with
her colonies on the Atlantic Coast, yet she was none the less eager
to plant new ones at the other extremity of the continent. Her
passion for acquiring broad territorial dependencies could not l)e
checked b}" her unpleasant experiences with the confederate colonies
who had just declared themselves free and independent. It is
this policy of coloidal aggrandizement, systematically maintained
through long series of years, which has made her the center of an
empire upon which the sun never sets, and in which her "morning
drum beat follows the course of the sun in one continuous roll
around the world." Parliament at once renewed her offer made in
1745, of a reward of £20,000 for the discovery of the Northwest
Passage, though not limiting it to exploration in Hudson's Bay.
The reward was offered to any vessel, sailing in any direction,
through any straits connecting the Atlantic with the distant Pacific,
north of latitude 52°.
This was inimical to the business interests of the Hudson's Bay
Company, and consequently was productive of no greater results
84 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
than the former one. The Admiralty had by this time become
satisfied that it was useless to seek for tlie passage on the Atlantic
side, since all their efforts were in some manner rendered abortive;
and they decided to dispatch an expedition to the Pacific to search
for the passage on that side, and to learn, if possible, the extent of
Spanish and Kussian occupation. For this important task the most
renowned navigator of his time was selected, Captain James Cook,
whose j-ecent extensive explorations in the South Sea and Indian
Ocean, extending into the Antarctic regions, had been so thoroughly
and intelligently conducted that little was left for his successors to
accomplish in the same field. It was vitally necessary that this
means of entering the Pacific be discovered if England would plant
colonies in this region, for communication with them by way of the
Horn oi- Cape of Good Hope would be too long and uncertain.
The public gaze was centered upon Captain Cook, and during the
four years that passed between the departure and return of his
vessels, the gallant navigator and his mission w^ere not forgotten,
even amid the exciting incidents of the conflict in America and the
graver political complications in Europe. The ex23edition was com-
posed of two vessels — the Resolution^ a craft which had just taken
Cook around the world, and a consort named the Discovery^ com-
manded l)y Captain Charles Clerke. In every particular the vessels
were fitted for the work expected of them. Charts \vere pre-
pared, endjracing all the geographical knowledge of the time,
except that recently gained by the Spaniards, the details of which
liad not yet been received in England. This left a comparative
blank in the Pacific between latitudes 43°, the northern limit
of Aguilar's voyage, and 56*^, the most southerly point on the
coast reached by the Russian explorers. In this were indicated
three imjjortant objects — the great river supposed to exist some-
where within those limits, the Straits of Fuca and the River of
Kings. Cook's instructions were very minute and particular.
England was involved in war with her American colonies, while
her old enemies, France and Spain, seemed about to add material
aid to tlie open encouragement they ga\'e the struggling rebels. It
was incumbent upon her to do nothing whatever to incur the open
hostility of these warlike nations, or to even give them a plausible
excuse for declaring a war which they seemed more than willing to
FROM CAPTAIN CARVER TO CAPTAIN COOK. 85
embark in. To thus send an expedition into waters which Spain
had for centuries looked upon as her own special inheritance, and
to explore a coast line which she had just visited and formally
taken possession of, was a delicate matter, and Captain Cook was
relied upon to do nothing to offend the Spaniards or antagonize the
Russians, whom he was expected to encounter on the coast of
Alaska. He was instructed to first reach the coast of New Albion,
for such the English still called California, in latitude 45°, and
was "strictly enjoined on his way thither, not to touch upon any
part of the Spanish dominions on the western continent of America,
unless driven to it by some unavoidable accident; in which case
he should stay no longer than should be absolutely necessary, and
to be very careful not to give any umbrage 'or offense to any of
the inhabitants or subjects of his Catholic majesty. And if, in his
further progress northward, he should meet any subjects of any
European prince or state (referring to the Russians), upon any
part of the coast which he might think proper to visit, he was not to
disturb them or give them just cause of offense, but, on the con-
trary, to treat them with ci\dlity and friendship." He was also
instructed to examine the coast thoroughly, and " with the consent
of the natives, to take possession in the name of the King of Great
Britain, of convenient stations in such countries as he might dis-
cover that had not been already discovered or visited by any other
European power, and to distribute among the inhabitants such
things as would remain as traces of his having been there; but if
he should find the countries so discovered to be uninhabited, he was
to take possession of them for his sovereign, by setting up proper
marks and descriptions, as first discoverers and possessors."
A literal adherence to these instructions would have barred Cook
fi'om the whole coast, since Spanish explorers had ^dsited and taken
formal possession at various points but the year before. It was
generally supposed that the ocean Hearne had discovered at the
mouth of the Coppermine River was identical with the Pacific, and
that as progression was made northward the coast would be found
trending sharply to the east, the region occupied by the Russians
being a sea of islands lying much to the westward of the main land
of America. Beginning when he first espied land, he was to search
for Aguilar's River, or the Great River of the West, then in latitude
86 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
48°, to look for the Straits of Fuca, and near the fifty-tliird
parallel to hunt for Fonte's Eio de los Eeyes. Upon reaching the
sixty -fifth parallel he was expected to find the coast trending rapidly
northeastward towards the mouth of the Coppermine ; and from that
point he was to explore carefully " such rivers or inlets as might
appear to be of considerable extent and pointing toward Hudson's
or Baffin's bays." Through all sach he was to endeavoi* to pass,
either in his large vessels or in smaller ones to be constructed for
that purpose from materials taken with him for that emergency.
If, however, he discovered that the Pacific and North Sea were not
identical, and that the coast line turned westward or held a north-
ward course, he was to continue on to the Russian settlements at
Kamtchatka, and fi'oiu that point sailed northward " in further
search for a northeast or northwest passage from the Pacific Ocean
into the Atlantic or North Sea." Cook certainly had a gigantic
task before him.
On the twelfth of Jul}', 1776, eight days after the l)ell of In-
dependence Hall had rung out to the world the glad tidings that a
free people had pledged " their lives, their fortunes and their sacred
honor" in the cause of liberty, Cook sailed fi'om Plymouth on his
mission. He rounded the Cape of Good Hope and spent nearly
a year in exploring the coast of Van Dieman's Land, New Zea-
land, and the Friendly and Society groups of islands. It was not
until the eighteenth of January, 1778, that he encountered the
Hawaiian group of islands, making thus one of the most important
discoveries in the Pacific. Upon these he bestowed the name of
" Sandwich Islands," in courtesy to the First Lord of the Admiralty.
After a brief stay at this mid -ocean refuge, he resumed his course
eastward, and on the seventh of March espied the coast of New
Albion, near the forty -fourth parallel. This was the coast of
Oregon in the vicinity of the Umpqua River. After being forced by
headwinds as far south as Rogue River, he sailed a northerly course
well out to sea, and did not again see land until he reached latitude
48°. To the prominent headland he then saw he gave the name
'' Cape Flattery," because of the encouraging condition of affairs.
Immediately north of Cape Flattery lay the Straits of Fuca, but
on his chart the passage supposed to have been discovered by the
old Greek pilot was indicated as lying south of the forty-eighth par-
FROM CAPTAIN OARVEK TO CAPTAIN COOK. ^7
allel ; and so he coasted southward to hiid it, little imagining that what
he sought was within a few miles of him, and that he was deliber-
ately turning his back upon it. Naturally he was unsuccessful in
liis search, and concluded that no such passage existed. He then
sailed north, passing directly by the entrance to the straits without
observing them, and cast anchor in Nootka Sound, unaware that it
was the one which Perez had entered a few years before and named
" Port San Lorenzo"; in fact, he was unacquainted with any of the
particulars of the recent Spanish voyages. This port he at first
called " St. George's Sound," Init soon changed the name to "Noot-
ka," the proper Indian title. The natives were very intelligent,
})ossessed copper, iron and brass, and were familiar with the methods
of working them. They were extremely fi-iendly and bartered val-
uable furs for trinkets of any kind, preferring metal to anything
else. The vessels were constantly surrounded by a fleet of canoes,
whose occupants had come for many mile.^ along the coast for the
purpose of seeing the white strangers and trading with them. Here
he lay nearly a month, repairing his vessels and permitting the sea-
men to recover from the effects of their long voyage. About the
first of April he resumed his northward course. In the vicinity of
the fifty-third parallel he intended to search for Admiral F(mte's
River of Kings, but ^vas di'iven to sea by a gale and did not again
see land until considerably north of that point. This did not appear
to him in the light of a disaster, for his journal says: "For my
o^^nl part I gave no credit to such vague and improbable stories, that
convey their own confutation along with them; nevertheless, I ^vas
very desirous of keeping the American coast aboard, in order to clear
up this point beyond dispute." From the fifty-fifth parallel, where
he again saw land, he continued north, in full view of the coast,
ol)serving the peak called " San Jacinto " by Bodega, but which
he named "Edwcumb"; discovei'ing and namins: Mount Fair-
weather, and on the fourth of May reaching an immense snow^ peak,
standing near the water's edge, which he at once recognized as the
Mount St. Elias discovered by Behring.
The sharp westward trend of the coast fi'om this point led Cook
to begin there a careful search for the Straits of Aniau, which he
hoped to find leading northward into the North Sea, the existence
of which Hearne had verified, or eastward into Hudson's or Baffin's
88 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
Bay. The Russian charts showed this to be the end of the Ameri-
can continent, all to the westward being a vast sea of islands; con-
sequently he had good reasons for expecting to find a passage into
the North Sea. He began a diligent search, exploring carefully all
bays and inlets along the coast. Prince William's Sound and
Cook's Inlet received special attention, and on his map are very
accurately laid down. The latter he at first supposed to be a
river, and called it " Cook's River," but the error was soon discov-
ered. Unsuccessful in finding the desired passage in either of these
favorable localities, he continued westward, and soon found the
coast trending toward the southwest. His careful explorations con-
v^inced him that this region was by no means a sea of islands, but
that the American continent " extended much further to the west
than, fi'om the modern most reputable charts, he had reason to
expect," and that the Russians had been extremely superficial in
their explorations. He determined to abandon his present effort
and to follow the coast line to its termination, and then to enter
Behring's Straits. On the nineteeenth of June he fell in with the
Schumagim Islands, where he saw the first tokens of Russian pres-
ence in that region. One of the many natives who swarmed about
the vessel possessed a piece of paj^er, upon which was writing
which he conceived to be in the Russian language. When he had
passed the Aleutian Islands, he sailed around them to the north,
and then returned eastward, soon reaching the large island of
Ounalaska, where he remained five days without encountering any
Russians, though he knew this to be an important station in the fur
trade. On the second of July he resumed his search for an east-
ward passage, sailing northerly along the west coast of the Alaskan
Peninsula. He reached a point on the ninth of iVugust which he
properly concluded was the extreme northwestern corner of America,
since the coast beyond trended steadily to the east^valJd. This he
named "Cape Prince of Wales." He then crossed Behring's
Strait and followed the Asiatic Coast on the Arctic side as far as
Cape North, in latitude 68° and 56'. Returning to the American
side, he proceeded beyond Cape Prince of Wales until his progress
was arrested by the ice in latitude 70'' and 29'. This point he
named " Icy Cape," and then returned to Ounalaska, where he found
a few Russian fur traders who were greatly surprised to learn how
FROM CAPTAIN CARVER TO CAPTAIN COOK. 89
erroneous had been the opinions they entertained of the geography
of the North Pacific. From Ounalaska he sailed directly to the
Sandwich Islands, where he spent the winter.
On the sixteenth of February, 1779, while preparing to renew
his voyage, he was slain in an unfortunate encounter with the
natives of Hawaii, and notwithstanding the fact that every museum
in England and America has on exhibition "the club that killed
Captain Cook," it is a well authenticated fact that he was slain with
a spear. The command now devolved upon Captain Clerke, whose
ill health seriously affected the future movements of the expedition.
The loss of Cook was a calamity. Clerke sailed in March, with the
design of pushing still further eastward in the North Sea, and, if
possible, passing by that route into the Atlantic. On his way he
entered the Bay of Avatscha, and cast anchor in the Harbor of
Petropaulovski, the chief settlement of Kamtchatka. The Russian
ofiicials received the visitors with great courtesy, being glad of an
O23portunity to learn of the geographical discoveries the English-
men had made. The voyage was then resumed, but ignorance of
the climatic peculiarities of the Arctic region had led him to under-
take the passage too early in the Spring. The consequence was
that he was prevented by ice fi'om progressing even as far as the
season before, and returned to Petropaulovski with the conviction
that no northern passage existed between the Atlantic and Pa-
cific oceans. Being in ill health, Clerke lay at anchor in the
Russian harbor until the twenty -second of August, when he died.
The command of the expedition then devolved upon Lieutenant
John Gore, who sailed at once for England by the way of Canton
and the CajDC of Good Hope, deeming his vessels unfit to encounter
another season in the Arctic.
The object of going to Canton was to dispose of a large collec-
tion of furs both the men and officers had made, chiefly by trading
for them with the natives of Nootka Sound. They had not been
purchased for market, nor had they been selected according to their
commercial value, and many had been rendered unsalable by being
used for clothing and beds. It was only when the Russians offered
a large price for them that they realized the value of what they
possessed; but as the traders had inadvertently told them what
great profits they made by shipping furs to Canton, they declined
90 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
to sell, 2>referring to take them to the better market. For this
miscellaneous collection of furs the Chinese paid them $10,000.
The men became excited at the prospect. The thought of retm'ii-
ing to England without engaging for a time in the fur trade made
them rebellious, notwithstanding they had been afloat over three
3^ears. As the narrative of the voyage says, they became " possessed
with a rage to retm-n to the northern coast, and, by anothei" cargo
of skins, to make their fortunes, which was, at one time, not far
from mutiny." The rebellious crew was reduced to subordination,
and the homeward voyage Avas resumed.
It was early in October, 1780, that the Resolution and Discovery
reached England, after an absence of four years and three months,
during; which time the country had been engaged in war with her
American colonies and her two immemorial enemies across the chan-
nel. Cook and his expedition had almost become forgotten in the
excitement of cm-rent events, and the return of the vessels with in-
telligence of the death of the two senior commanders and of the
geographical discoveries which had been made, was an unexpected
surprise. Until the complications of war were removed, England
had neither time nor inclination to attempt further discoveries or
plant new colonies, and so the Lords of Admiralty pigeon-holed the
official record of the voyage, to be published after the conclusion of
peace. They could not seal the lips of the seamen, who scattered
about the story of their adventm'es, and the Avonderful profits to be
gained in buying furs for nothing fi'om the Indians on the American
side of the Pacific, and selling them for a great deal to the Chinese
on the Asiatic side. One of these seamen, John Ledyard, an Amer-
ican, endeavored to influence American and French capitalists in a
fur enterprise, but unsuccessfully. He then conceived the idea of
traveling around the world by way of Kussia, Siberia, the Pacific
and America. HaA-ing secured a passport fi'om the Empress of
Russia, he traveled as far as Irkutsk, when he was arrested, eon-
ducted to the Polish frontier and released upon the condition that
he never again enter the empire. This arbitrary act is ascribed to
the influence of the Russian fm* monopoly, which did not relish the
idea of foreigners prying into their business.
AVhile Cook's vessels were lying at Hawaii, and only nine days
before the famous commander was killed, another Spanish expedi-
FROM CAPTAIN CARVER TO CAPTAIN COOK. 91
tion sailed on a voyage of discovery in the Nortli Pacific. This
was not caused by Cook's movements, for the Spanish authorities
were unaware of his presence in the Pacific, but was the result of
the o;overnment's desire to examine the northern reojions more criti-
cally than Bodega and Heceta had done. After three years of
preparation the Princess and Favorita sailed — the former com-
manded by Ignacio Arteaga and the latter by Bodega and Maurelle.
The route of the vessels was much the same as that traversed by
Bodega and Cook, and nothing of importance was noticed which
had not been seen by those explorers. When they observed the
coast-line beyond Mount St. Elias to trend westward, they began
searching for the Straits of Anian, as had Cook the year before, but
were by no means as thorough as the English na\dgator had })een.
Arteaga lacked the quality of perseverance under disappointment
and hardships which is so necessary to the successful explorer, and
discouraged by his want of success, and fi'ightened by the appear-
ance of scurvy symptoms among his crew, ordered the vessels back
to San Bias. Instead of being reprimanded for the superficial nature
of his explorations, his faulty observations and useless charts, he and
his associates were rewarded by promotion. Spain was now well
satisfied of the extent and value of the coast to the north, but being
involved in war was compelled to postpone any effort at coloniza-
tion until her foreign complications were at an end.
CHAPTER VII.
SPAIN'S SUPREMACY IN THE PACIFIC OVERTHROWN.
The Russian- American Trading Company — France sends La Perouse
to the Pacific — James Hanna makes the First Voyage in the Fur
Trade from. England — England'^ s Short-sighted Policy of Granting
Monopoly Charters — The East India Company and South Sea Com-
pany— Their Conflicting Interests LeoAs to the Organization of the
King George's Sound Company — Belief that North America above
Latitude ^9° was an Archipelago of Huge Islands — First Yoyage of
Captain Meares — His Terrible Winter on the Alaskan Coast — Cap-
tain Barclay Discovers the Straits of Fuca — Meares Engages in the
Fur Trade under the Portuguese Flag — He Builds the Schooner
'■'-Northwest America " at Nootka Sound — Explores the Straits of
Fuca — His Unsuccessful Search for the Rio de San Rogue — Decep-
tion Bay and Cape Disappointinent — The United States Enters the
Contest for Control of the Pacific Coast — The '■'-Columbia Rediviva'''
and "-Lady Washington " — The Latter Attacked by Indians^ and the
Former Supplies Spain with an Opportunity to Promulgate her Doc-
trine of Exclusive Rights in the Pacific- Martinez sent to Explore
the Coast and Investigate the Russians — His Rep)ort of Russian
Operations Causes Spain to Send a Remonstrance to the Ejnpress —
Martinez Fortifies Nootka and Takes Possession in the Name of the
King of Spain — He Seizes the '-'■Iphigenia " and '■'■Northwest Aineri-
ca " — Colnett and Hudson arrive in the '■'-Argonaut " and "-Princess
RoyaV — Are made Prisoners by Martinez and sent to Mexico —
The Prisoners Released and Vessels Restored — Controversy between
England and Spain Terminated by the Nootka Convention — Stipu-
lations of the Treaty Displease both Parties.
THE first to avail themselves of the discoveries made by Cook
were the Russians They were not embroiled in war with any
nation contending for supremacy in America, nor with any other
SPAIN S SUPREMACY IN THE PACIFIC OVERTHROWN. 93
power whicli could attack their Pacific possessions. Cook's voyage
opened their eyes to the nature and value of the fur regions, and
they resolved to enter deeply into that which they had been simpiy
skimming for forty years. The Russian -American Trading Com-
pany was organized in 1781. Two years later three vessels were
sent from Petropaulovski, to establish stations on the islands and
main land as far east as Prince A^illiam's Sound. Three years
were consumed in this work. The hold Russia then took upon
Alaska was not relaxed until that region was purchased by the
United States nearly a century later (in 1867) for $7,200,000.
Th(^ first ofiicial voyage made by the contending nations, aftei'
the Treaty of Ghent was signed, was sent out by France, In the
A\dnter of 1784-5 Cook's journal was published, and though the
" yarns " of his sailors had been freely circulated, this was a reve-
lation to the people, and caused much eagerness to be displayed to
take advantage of the golden opportunity therein pointed out. The
French government immediately dispatched a skillful and scientific
na\agator, named La Perouse, with instructions to " explore the parts
of the northwestern coast of America which had not been examined
by Cook, and of which the Russian accounts gave no idea, in order
to obtain information respecting the fur trade, and also to learn
whether, in those unknown parts, some river or internal sea might
not be found communicating with Hudson's Bay, or Baffin's Bay."
La Perouse sailed in 1785, and on the twenty -third of June, 1786,
reached the American Coast in the vicinity of Mount Fairweather.
After remaining several weeks at anchor, he proceeded slowly south-
ward, minutely examining the coast, and discovering that the places
where the English and Spanish explorers had formerly landed were
not on the main land, but on a long range of islands which fi'inge
the coast. For this important discovery he received no credit, as
his vessels were wrecked in the New Hebrides on the return voyage,
and his journal was not published for ten yeai's, long after other
explorers had discovered the same facts and made them known to
the world.
The first successful venture in the fur trade was made by James
Hanna, an Englishman, who sailed from the Portuguese East India
port of Macao, in 1785, secured a load of furs at Nootka Sound,
and disposed of them in China for $20,000. The next year he
94 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
repeated tlie voyage, but found that other traders had arrived,
whose competition prevented the securing of a good cargo; also,
th^t the Chinese market was glutted with this avalanche of furs.
There was no profit in the business that year. England adopted
an extremely short-sighted policy in her treatment of the Pacific
question, and surrendered her claims into the hands of private
monopolies. A century before, eager to discover the long-sought
North ^vest Passage, she chartered the Hudson's Bay Company,
granting it almost royal power, and conferring upon it absolute
dominion in that vast region whose waters fall into Hudson's Bay.
Two centuries have gone by and it is still a wilderness. In her
anxiety to command the commerce of the Pacific, and plant her
foot on the western shore of America, she again committed the
fatal error of delegating her powers to private and selfish
monopolies. At that time the East India Company was already
firmly estal)lished in India, and had laid well the foundation of
that power which has since added the title of " Empress of the
Indies '' to the crown of England. To this gigantic corporation
was granted the monopoly of all trade with the ports of Asia and
adjacent islands — all other subjects of Great Britain being prohib-
ited fi'om trading under severe penalties. A new association,
called the " South Sea Company," was chartered, upon which was
conferred the exclusive privilege of trade on the American Coast.
Thus was the whole commerce of the Pacific, so far as Ei^gland
M^as concerned, given into the hands of two coi'porations, and all
other subjects of Great Britain, no matter how eager they might be
to embark in the fur trade and explore the unknown mysteries of
the great South Sea, were debarred fi'om so doing. No English
ships c(juld pass around Cape Horn save those of the South Sea
Company, while the ensign of the powei*ful East India Company
must fly at the mast-head of every British vessel that doubled the
Cape of Good Hope. It was of course the supposition that these
two corporations, being rich and powerful, w^ould at once embark
in the fur trade on an extensive scale, and, as the representatives
of the British crown, would lay as broad and deep a foundation for
English power on the American Coast and the Islands of the
Pacific, as one of them had abeady done in the land of the Brah-
mins. Such was not the case, owing primaiily to the conflicting
Spain's supeemacy in the pacific ovekthkown. 95
interests of the two companies. The gi'eat fiir market was China,
but fi'om the ports of that company the ships of the South Sea
Company were debarred by the exclusive trade privileges of the
rival association. Nor ^vas the East India Company more happily
situated; with complete control of England's commerce in Asiatic
ports, it was excluded fi'om the fur-producing coast of America.
One controlled the som-ce of supply and the other the market, and
neither could accomplish anything. The chasm between the rival
companies was bridged by the organization of a third one — the
King George's Sound Company. This association was formed in
1785, and was granted special permits fi'om both monopolies,
enabling it to embark in the Paciiic fur trade under favorable
auspices. Two vessels were ^lispatched Ijy this company, the King
George and Qtieen Charlotte^ commanded by Captains Portlock
and Dixon. They traded two years without paying expenses, the
Chinese market having been flooded by this sudden shower of
fur. Two other vessels sent the next year by the same company,
and which reached Nootka in 1787, prior to the return of Portlock
and Dixon to England, were equally unsuccessful, and the South
Sea Company suddenly collapsed. Shares in the company, which
it had formally taken fortunes to purchase, were thi'own into the
street, and the projectors of the enterprise barely escaped the rude
clutches of a mob. The South Sea Bubble was completely bursted.
These traders, in passing up and down the coast, learned what
La Perouse had discovered two years before — that all points north
of Nootka yet visited by traders and explorers, were but islands and
not portions of the main land. The former Russian idea of the
region occupied ])y them was revived, and extended to embrace the
whole northern portion of Amei'ica. It was conceived that not a
continent, but an immense archipelago of islands occupied that re-
gion, and that through the channels separating them it was possible
to reach the Atlantic. This idea was also supported two years
later by Captain Meares, who assigned as one of his reasons for hold-
ing the belief, that "the channels of this archipelago were found to
be ^Ynde and capacious, Avith near two hundred fathoms deep of
water, and huge promontories stretching out into the sea, where
whales and sea -otters ^vere seen in incredible abundance. In some
of these channels there are islands of ice, which we may venture to
96 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
say could never have formed on the western side of America, which
possesses a mild and moderate climate; so that their existence can
not be reconciled to any other idea, than that they received theii*
formation in the eastern seas, and have been drifted by the tides
and currents through the passage for whose existence we are con-
tending." He was not aware that the Alaska glaciers were con-
stantly di'opping frozen offerings into the sea. A few years later
Captain Vancouver demonstrated the fallacy of this theory, and
o-ave us the first correct idea of the American continent with its
coast fi'inge of islands.
In 178G the great East India Company, either having made some
commercial arrangement with the South Sea Company, or purposely
infringing upon the chartered rights of the rival organization, dis-
patched two small vessels to the American Coast for furs. They
met with sufficient success to encourage the company to engage in
the business on a larger scale; consequently, two vessels were fitted
out, the Nootka and Sea-Otter^ in 1787, and dispatched to Nootka
Sound, which was then the objective point of all fur traders. The
former was under the command of Captain John Meares, a former
lieutenant of the royal navy, and the latter by Lieutenant Walter
Tipping.
The Sea-Otter followed the Japan Current until she reached the
Aleutian Islands, and then coasting along eastward arrived at Prince
William's Sound. Thus far was she traced by her consort, but be-
yond that point her movements nevei' were known, nor was she
ever heard from again. She was probably swamped in mid ocean,
for had she been wi^ecked on the coast some traces of her would
have been discovered by the natives and reported to the traders.
The Nootka followed the same general course, and came to anchor
in Prince William's Sound about the first of October, Captain Meares
designing to spend the winter in that port and resume the voyage
along the coast in the spring. Unacquainted with the climatic con-
ditions, he had selected a place sufficiently removed fi'om the path
of the Japan Cm'rent and its branches to be practically beyond its
influences, and thus a place where all the rigors *of an Arctic winter
prevailed. During October, November and even December, the
climate was generally pleasant and always endurable, but there sud-
denly came a change. All the chilling winds of the Borean cave
Spain's supremacy in the pacific ovekthrown. 97
were uncliained, and howled about the vessel, which was soon bound
in icy fetters and buried beneath the drifting snow. The migratory
Indians disappeared in search of a more agreeable abode, and were
quickly followed by all animal and aquatic life. The sun hid its
face, save for a few moments at midday, when it seemed to raise its
head above the horizon to cast a derisive glance upon the sufferers,
and then quickly disappeared. Meares' journal says: " Tremendous
mountains forbade almost a sight of the sky, and cast their noctm*-
nal shadows over the ship in the midst of day." Deprived of proper
food and exercise, the imprisoned crew were quickly attacked with
scur^^y, whose horrible ravages it was impossible to check. Twenty-
three died during the four months of their imprisonment, while the
others were rendered so feeble as to be unfit to perform duty. At
last, in May, the ice released the vessel fi'om its confining grasp;
animals and bii'ds returned, the natives again appeared, and won to
health and strength l)y fresh food and the invigoi'ating rays of the
sun, the afilicted crew were soon ready to resume the voyage. Dis-
heartened by his terrible experience, and rendered short-handed by
the death of so many of his seamen, Mears sailed in June for the
Sandwich Islands, and fi'om there proceeded to China. Discouraged
by these two disastrous voyages, the East India Company abandoned
the Pacific fur trade and confined its attention to the enormous com-
merce of India.
Another vessel was engaged in the fur trade in 1787, the Impe-
rial Eagle^ >)elonging to the Austrian East India Company, and
commanded by Captain Barclay, or Berkeley, an Englishman whose
name is perpetuated in Barclay Sound, on the west coast of Van-
couver Island. Nothing is remarkable in connection with this voy-
age but the discovery of what was then believed to be the much
sought and generally imcredited Straits of Fuca, only a few miles
north of the location assigned by the old Greek pilot to the passage
he claimed to have entered. This Barclay observed while passing
southward across the entrance; but he made no effort to explore it,
simply entering its location upon his chart. He continued his
course, and at the icnouth of a small river just above the Isla de
Dolores, where Bodega had lost a portion of his crew a few years
before at the hands of the natives, sent a boat's crew ashore, who
met a similar fate to that which had befallen their Spanish prede-
98 HISTOKY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
cessors. In commemoration of the sad event he christened the ill-
fated place " Destruction Kiver," a title which was later, by one of
those errors incident to map making, transferred to the adjacent
island.
When Captain Meares returned to China fi'om his unfortunate
Avinter in Prince William's Sound, he did not, like the East India
Company, abandon the fur trade; on the contrary, he entered into
it on his own responsibility. In order to avoid the restriction placed
upon British subjects by the charters Parliament had granted the
two great monopolies, he entered into a commercial arrangement
with Juan Cavallo, a Portuguese merchant of Macao, a port near
Canton belonging to tlie crown of Portugal. Two vessels were
fitted out and commissioned hj the Portuguese Governor of Macao,
nominally belonging to Senor Cavallo, and having Portuguese cap-
tains named in theu^ shipping papers. Nominally, Meares went in
the ship Felice Adventurer as supercargo, though actually in com-
mand; and AVilliam Douglas occupied the same position in the
Iphigenia Nubiana. A double purpose was served by thus cloth-
ing the enterprise with Portuguese apparel, as special privileges were
enjoyed l)y the subjects of that nation in the ports of China. Just
what interest Cavallo and the two nominal captains had in the
enterprise is uncertain ; for Meares, as long as his interests lay in that
direction, asserted that the undertaking was purely a Portuguese
one, but ^vhen circiunstances placed the balance of interest on the
other side, as strenuously asserted that he alone was the owner and
manager of the enterprise. The Iphigenia sailed for Cook's Inlet,
where she was to begin operations, and trade southward along the
coast until she reached Nootka Sound and united with her consort.
The Felice headed for Nootka direct, where she arrived early in the
spring of 1788. Immediately upon reaching that general rendez-
vous of the fur trade, Meares began the construction of a small
schooner for the purpose of coasting along the shore to trade with
the Indians. He secured from Maquinna, the chief, permission to
erect a small house to shelter his men while at work upon the craft,
the consideration for this privilege l)eing a brace of pistols and the
house and contents when he should finally depart from that region.
LeaA^ng his l)uilders at work, the house haAdng been erected and
encompassed l)y a rampart of earth, fi-om which fi'owned the rusted
Spain's supremacy in the pacific overthrown. 99
moutli of a diminutive cannon, Meares sailed down the coast in
search of the passage reported by Barclay as having been seen by
him the year before. June 29, 1788, he observed a broad inlet in
latitude 48'' 39'. Though in the introduction to his narrative he
states that the observations of Captain Barclay were knowai to him,
in the journal itself he takes the full credit of the discovery, saying:
— " The coast along; whi^h we were now sailino; had not been seen
by Captain Cook, and we know of no other navigator said to have
been this way except Maurelle.'' He continues: " From the mast-
head it was observed to stretch to the east by the noi-th, and a clear
and unbounded horizon w^as seen in this direction as far as the eye
could reach. The strongest curiosity impelled us to enter this strait,
which we shall call by the name of its original discoverer, John de
Fuca." The mate of the Felice, John Duffin, was dispatched with
a boat's crew of thirteen men and a month's pro^^sions, to explore
the strait. In a week they returned, all of them having been
wounded in a conflict with the natives. Ten miles up the passage
(according to Duffin's statement, but thirty as given by Meares),
they were fiercely attacked by Indians, who fought with great des-
peration and seemed not to be intimidated by either the noise or
deadly effect of the guns. Theii' weapons were clubs, arrows, stone
bludgeons, spears and slings, all of which they handled mth great
skill. So fierce was their onslaught and so effectively did they use
their weapons that only to the protection afforded the seamen by
the boat's awning was due their escape with then* lives.
Having found Fuca's Strait, or one which he believed to be the
passage spoken of by Lock, he sailed southward in search of the Rio
de San Roque of the Spaniard Heceta. On the sixth of July he
discovered a promontory which he believed to be the one Heceta
had named " Cabo de San Roque." He describes his subsequent
movements as follows:
After we had rounded the promontory a large bay, as we had imagined, opened
to our view, that bore a very promising appearance, and into it we steered with
every encouraging expectation. The high land that formed the boundaries of the
bay was at a great distance, and a flat, level country occupied the intervening space ;
the bay itself took rather a westerly direction. As we steered in, the water shoaled
to nine, eight and seven fathoms, when breakers were seen from the deck right
ahead, and, from the mast-head, they were observed to extend across the bay; we
therefore hauled out, and directed our course to the opposite shore, to see if there was
any channel, or if we could discover any point. The name of " Cape Disappoint-
100 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
nient " was given to the promontory (Cape Hancock), and the bay obtained the title
of " Deception Bay." * * * We can now with safety assert that there is no such
river as that of St. Roc exists, as laid down in the Spanish charts. To those of
Maurelle (Bodega's pilot) we made continual reference, but without deriving any
information or assistance from them. We now reached the opposite side of the bay,
where disappointment continued to accompany us, and, being almost certain that
there we should obtain no place of shelter for the ship, we bore for a distant head-
land, keeping our course within two miles of the shore.
The distant headland he named " Cape Lookout," it being the
one called " Cape Falcon " by the Spaniards, and now kno^^ni as
'^ Tillamook Head."
Meares then returned to Nootka, having, as he expressed it,
''traced every part of the coast which unfavorable weather had pre-
vented Captain Cook from approaching." The Iphigenia soon
arrived fi'om the north with a large cargo of furs. The little
schooner being now completed, she was launched and christened the
Northwest A7nerica. She was the first vessel constructed on the
Pacific Coast north of Mexico. About this time appeared two
American vessels, the Cohtmbia Rediviva^ commanded by Captain
John Kendrick, and the Lady Washington^ by Captain Robert Gray.
The new-born republic of the United States, as soon as a treaty of
peace was signed, began at once to resume those maritime commer-
cial ventures which the war with England had suspended. Ameri-
can vessels \dsited the ports of every country, and the whale fishing
around Cape Horn, which had been abruptly terminated, was
resumed.
In 1784 an American vessel entered the harbor of Canton, and
in 1787 five vessels were engaged in the China trade. Untram-
meled with the commercial restrictions which Parliament had
imposed upon British subjects, they could engage in the fur trade
with every prospect of success. It was for this purpose the Colum-
bia Rediviva and Lady Washington^ two names now so intimately
associated with this region, had started from Boston with a load
of Indian goods, and had come to anchor in Nootka Sound. Their
voyage thither had not been unattended mth adventure. In Jan-
uary, soon after passing Cape Horn, a severe storm separated the
two consorts. The Washington continued the voyage and reached
the Oregon Coast in August, where, near the forty-sixth parallel,
Captain Gray ran his vessel aground in attempting to enter an
opening in the land, which he had explored in a boat and believed
Spain's supremacy in the pacific overthrown. 101
to be the entrance to the great River of the West. While in this
position the ship was attacked by Indians, and in repelling them and
getting the craft into deep water again, one man was killed and the
mate wounded. This place he called " Murderer's Harbor," and is
considered by Greenhow to have been the mouth of the Columbia,
and by Bancroft as Tillamook Bay. Captain Gray then proceeded
to Nootka Sound, where lay the three vessels belonging to Meares,
his appearance being a great surprise to the Englishmen. The
Columbia was damaged by the storm which had driveu the two
vessels apart near Cape Horn, and entered the Spanish port on the
Island of Juan Fernandez to repair damages. The commandant,
Don Bias Gonzales, treated Captain Kendrick with great courtesy
and hospitality, for which he was promptly cashiered by the Cap-
tain-General of Chile, and this action was approved by the Viceroy
of Peru. From the position taken by Spain in the sixteenth cen-
tury, she had never in the least degree receded. She still claimed
complete dominion of the west coast of America, and the sole right
of trade with all regions approachable by the way of Cape Horn.
In 1692, nearly a century before, a royal ordinance had been pro-
mulgated, decreeing that foreign vessels of eveiy nation, irrespective
of the relations existing between those nations and Spain, should be
seized wherever found in Pacific waters, unless they possessed a trad-
ing license from the government of Spain. The commandant at
Juan Fernandez was informed that he should have enforced this
ordinalice and seized the Columbia^ and the authorities of all the
Spanish Pacific ports were then specially instructed to carry out the
decree to the letter. Not only was this done, but the Viceroy dis-
patched a cruiser fi'om Callao to overtake and capture the Columbia.
In this it was unsuccessful, and Captain Kendi'ick reached Nootka
unmolested. Soon after the arrival of the two American vessels,
Captain Meares loaded all his fiu-s upon the Felice and sailed for
China; the Iphigenia and Northwest America soon after departing
for the Sandwich Islands to spend the mnter. The Columbia and
Washington remained at anchor in Nootka Sound until spring.
The sight of these English and American vessels venturing into
the Pacific — and those spoken of above were by no means the only
ones, since several exploring expeditions traversed the South Pacific
whose work had no particular bearing upon the history of this
102 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
region — admonished Spain tliat if slie would maintain her supremacy
she must be up and doing. AVliile she, in hei* sluggisli nature, had
been content with an occasional superficial exploration, productive
of little information of value to her or the rest of the world, these
foreigners were boldly infi'inging her prerogative and skimming
the rich cream of the fur trade. The northern limit of actual Span-
ish occupation was then at the Bay of San Francisco, and the
authorities determined to extend it still further without delay.
This resulted in the dispatching of an expedition for the purpose
of selecting suitable locations for several Spanish colonies, as well
as to ascertain the extent and character of the Russian settlements
in the extreme north. The fleet consisted of the Princesa^ com-
manded by Estivan Martinez, former pilot of Juan Perez, and the
San Carlos, under the command of Lieutenant Gonzalo Haro.
On the eighth of March, 1788, the fleet sailed fi'om San Bias and
cast anchor in Prince William's Sound on the twenty-fifth of May.
There they lay inactive for nearly a month. The Spanish idea of
exploration was very peculiar. While the English officers examined
carefully every bay and inlet, took fi'equent observations and sound-
ings, and prepared careful charts of theii' coui'se and discoveries, the
representatives of Spain seem to have been satisfied with an occa-
sional sight of the coast, and theu' map making consisted of the
drawing of a straight line on a piece of paper, with an occasional
cape or bay marked upon it. Their maps of this region were cer-
tainly very peculiar. In June the San Carlos sailed towards the
southwest, and encountering a Russian trading post upon the Island
of Kodiak, Haro interrogated the man in charge as to the number
and condition of the Russian settlements in America. With the
information thus obtained he sailed again to Prince William's Sound
to join his superior. Meanwhile Martinez had made a few super-
ficial explorations of the Sound, to drive away the ennui. The two
vessels then proceeded to Ounalaska and theu' officers were hospit-
ably entertained by the Russian traders for an extended period.
With the knowledge thus acquired of the Russian settlements, Mar-
tinez returned with his fleet to San Bias. He reported that there
were eight settlements in Alaska, all of them west of Prince Wil-
liam's Sound, while another was about to be established in the
vicinity of the Sound itself. These were chiefly occupied by nati^^es
J
Spain's supremacy in the pacific overthrown. 103
of Siberia and Kamtchatka, all subjects of the Russian CrowTi. He
also reported that he had been informed of two Russian vessels
which had been sent to effect a settlement at Nootka, and of two
others under construction at Ochotsk to be used for a similar pur-
pose.
The information thus gained by Martinez was forwarded to
Madrid, and the Spanish Court was much agitated by the disclosure
of Russian encroachment upon what were considered the dominions
of Spain. Her settlements were already sufficiently extensive to
give her undisputed title to Alaska, and she was now threatening
to extend her colonies far to the southward. The infringement of
English and American fur traders upon the commercial rights of
Spain was annopng enough, but here was a positive and imminent
danger of l^eing supplanted entirely. The government determined
to take a firm stand, to meet the crisis and ward off the impending
blow. A remonstrance was sent to the Empress of Russia, calling
attention to the encroachments of her sul^jects upon the dominions
of Spain in the Pacific, to which the Empress responded that her
subjects were acting in accordance with her express instructions not
to invade the territory of other powers. As neither communication
stated what the coi'responding powers considered the limit of their
claims in America, the diplomatic interchange settled neither the
question nor the intent of the two sovereign powers.
Meanwhile active operations were undertaken by the Mexican
Viceroy. Early in 1789 Martinez and Haro were ordered to sail
for Nootka in the Princesa and San Carlos^ and to take possession
of that port in the name of Spain. Their instructions were to treat
foreigners courteously, but at all hazards to maintain the right and
authority of Spain in this region. On the sixth of May the Prin-
cesa reached her destination, finding two vessels lying there at
anchor, the Columbia and Iphigenia. Only a few days before, the
Iphigenia^ Captain Douglas, and the little Northzvest America^ Cap-
tain Robert Funter, had arrived from their mnter's sojourn at the
Sandwich Islands, still carrying the Portuguese flag at their mast-
heads. They reached port in a condition of exhaustion, so far as
supplies were concerned. From the natives and the American ves-
sels enough supplies and articles of barter were procured to enable
the little schooner to leave port upon a cruise along the coast in
104 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLET.
search of furs, and she accordingly took her departure. Captain
Gray also started out upon a similar errand in the Lady Washing-
Ion, meeting the Princesa just without the harbor. Immediately
upon entering the port, Martinez informed Captains Douglas and
Kendrick that he had come to take possession in the name of his
sovereign, examined their papers, and then landed and began the
erection of fortifications on Hog Island, a commanding position in
the bay, calling the port " Santa Cruz de Nootka." No objections
were made either by the Americans or the English officers of the
quasi Portuguese vessel, and everything appeared satisfactory and
harmonious. Apparently it was the intention of the Spanish com-
mandant to seize the Iphigenia^ as subsequent events indicate, but
his action was delayed for prudential reasons. On the thirteenth,
Haro arrived in the San Carlos^ and the next day, deeming his force
now sufficiently strong, he summoned Douglas and Viana, the actual
and nominal captains of the Iphigenia, on board the Princesa^ to
have their papers again inspected. This time the documents were
not as satisfactory as he had previously found them. He took ex-
ceptions to the clause in their instructions requiring the officers to
capture any Spanish vessels which might interfere with them, and
carry their crews to Macao, to be tried for j)ii'acy. He considered
a vessel sailing under such instructions a lawful prize as soon as she
entered a Spanish port. In vain it was urged that the instructions
were only to apply to such vessels as might unjustifiably attack
them, and were purely defensive in their nature; the Spanish officer
refused to view the matter in that light, and put them under arrest,
sending a force to take possession of the brig and raise the Spanish
flag. Twelve days later, having had plenty of time to reflect and
becoming convinced that the objectionable clause was not of as
hostile a nature as he had at first assumed to believe it, and fearing
that he had overstepped the bounds of prudence, he released the
brig and restored his prisoners to their liberty. He also furnished
all the supplies needed for a voyage to the Sandwich Islands, taking
in exchange drafts upon Juan Cavallo, the nominal Portuguese
owner of the vessel. He also secured the signatures of Douglas and
Viana to a certificate that he had found the vessel in distress, had
furnished her with necessary supplies, and had not interfered with
her voyage. This certificate Douglas afterwards claimed to be un-
SPAIN S SUPREMACY IN THE PACIFIC OVERTHROWN. 105
true; that he had signed it under dui'ess, at the urgent solicitation
of his men, in order to secure the release of his vessel, and that the
brig had been plundered by her captors. That this was not the
case was attested by a letter signed by Captain Gray and Joseph
Ingraham, mate of the Columbia^ and, further, by the fact that,
although ostensibly bound for the Sandwich Islands, Douglas turned
northward as soon as he was out of sight, and engaged in a season
of highly profitable traffic along the coast.
The certificate was not the only paper Douglas signed to procure
his release and supplies. He entered into a written agreement to
restore the Iphigenia or pay her value, in case the Viceroy of
Mexico should decide the capture to have been lawful. Martinez
desii'ed to possess the little scliooner, and ha\dng her value appraised
by the Americans, requested Douglas to sell her at that price. He
was told that no one there had the authority to dispose of the
vessel, but he insisted. Douglas therefore gave him a letter to
Captain Funter, which Martinez supposed to be an order for her
delivery, but which was simply a note informing the commander of
the little craft of the Spanish officer's wishes, and intimating that
he might follow his own inclinations. He then set sail at once,
fearful his duplicity would be discovered, and made the voyage
previously alluded to. 'SAHien the Northwest America arrived on
the ninth of June, Martinez seized her, claiming to do so by right
of his agreement with Captain Douglas.
Meanwhile, two other vessels were on their way to Nootka.
Meares, when he reached China the fall before, succeeded in mak-
ing a pooling arrangement with the representative of the King
George's Sound Company ; and as that company possessed trading
licenses fi'om both the East India Company and South Sea Com-
pany, there was no necessity for longer maintaining the Portuguese
subterfuge. The tw^o vessels of the company were combined with
the three belonging to Meares. The Prince of Wales had been
sent to England, leaving the Princess Royal still in China. This
vessel was placed under the command of Captain Thomas Hudson,
and the Felice having been sold and the Argonaut purchased. Cap-
tain Colnett assumed command of the latter. The last named
gentleman was given charge of the expedition, since Meares remained
in China, and was instructed to establish a permanent station on
106 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
the American Coast, to be called "Fort Pitt." A small vessel, to
be launched upon arrival and used for the coasting trade, formed
part of the cargo, and seventy Chinamen were taken along to be
employed at the new settlement. According to Spanish authority,
the Chinese passengers claimed they had embarked for Bengal, and
not America. What became of them after the subsequent troubles
there is no evidence to indicate.
The two vessels sailed from China, one in April and the other
in May — ^the Princess Royal being the first. She cast anchor in
Nootka Sound just five days after the seizure of the Northwest
Afiierica. As she brought intelligence of the bankruptcy of
Cavallo, the reputed owner of the little schooner, Martinez decided
to retain personal possession of the craft to indemnify himself for the
unpaid bills di'awn upon the insolvent Portuguese by Captain
Douglas. He accordingly changed her name to Gertrudis^ and
placing her in charge of Da\ad Coolidge, mate of the Lady Wash-
ington^ sent her out on a trading cruise on the joint account of him-
self and the Americans, mth whom he had been on the most friendly
terms. The' furs which had been collected were turned over to
Captain Hudson, with whom he did not interfere. By this time the
Americans had decided to send one of their vessels to China ^\A\ki
the fm's which had1)een collected, and fi*om there to Boston to report
the condition of affairs. Accordingly, Captains Gray and Keudrick
exchanged vessels, the former sailing for China in the Columbia.
Martinez availed himself of this opportunity, and placed the crew
of the captm^ed schooner on board and sent them to China.
On the second of July the Princess Royal sailed on a trading
voyage; the next day passing the Argonaut just outside the harbor
without communicating with her. Captain Colnett was informed
of what had happened by parties who had gone out to meet him
in a boat, and decided to anchor outside. Martinez came out and in
the most friendly manner invited him to enter the harbor, assuring
him of perfect security, and as Colnett afterward stated in a narra-
tive of his voyages, urgently solicited him to do so for the purpose
of supplying provisions and other necessaries to the Spaniards, who
were in great distress. Won by the cordial a23pearance of the invi-
tation, Colnett assented, and the Argonaut was towed into port by
Spaniards. There is no reason to suppose that it was not the inten-
Spain's supremacy in the pacific overthrown. 107
tion of Martinez to treat the Argonaut with the same courtesy lie
had shown to the Princess Royal, when he invited Colnett to enter
port, but his conduct underwent a rapid transformation when he
learned fi'om that officer that he was instructed to found a fortified
English colony. He at once informed the English Captain that he
had already taken possession of the country in the name of the
King of Spain, and could not permit any such proceeding. The
next day Colnett went on board the Princesa and requested permis-
sion !o sail immediately, which was refused, since the Spanish
commandant feared it was the Englishman's purpose to seek some
other port in which to estaV)lish himself, and his duty to his govern-
ment requu-ed that he prevent such a consummation at all hazards.
He asked Colnett to exhibit his papers, and the Englishman
returned to his vessel, arrayed himself in full uniform, sword
included, and then again presented himself in the cabin of the
Princesa, with the papers in his hand. The papers were examined,
and Colnett was informed that he would not be permitted to sail
just yet, whereat he fell into a passion and a quarrel ensued, re-
sulting in the arrest of the captain and the seizure of his vessel.
Ten days later the Princess Royal Y^t^\\\.^^^ her commander being
ignorant of what had happened during his brief absence, and was
at once seized by the Spaniards. A portion of the furs captm'ed
were given to Captain Gray to pay the passage to China of the
crew of the Northwest America. The officers and men of the
Argonaut and Princess Royal were placed on board the former
and sent to San Bias. In September, Martinez and Haro, in
obedience to instructions from Mexico, dismantled the fortifications
and departed from Nootka; and as the Lady Washington was away
upon a coasting voyage, that bone of contention was left without a
claimant.
So prostrated was Captain Colnett with the severity and sud-
denness of his misfortunes that he became temporarily insane, recov-
ering, however, before he reached San Bias. The commandant at
that port was the well known explorer Bodega y Quadi-a, and he
received the two captains with the greatest of courtesy, sending
them to Mexico to lay their case before the Viceroy, Re villa- Gigedo.
After considerable delay it was officially decided that Martinez,
though only following his special instructions and the royal
108 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
decrees, had overstepped tlie bouncLs of prudence. The prisoners
vi^ere accordingly released, and were paid the regular wages of the
Spanish navy for the whole time of their captivity. The Argonaut,
which, mth the other two prizes, had been maintained in active
service, was restored to Colnett, rather the worse for wear. He
sailed in her for Nootka in the spring of 1790, and not finding his
other vessel there, set out in search of her, not obtaining possession
till a year later at the Sandwich Islands. During all these occur-
rences the Americans were on the most friendly terms with the
Spaniards, so much so that they were accused of co-operating with
them against the English. The facts are that they Avere inactive,
though not entirely disinterested spectators, since it naturally
pleased them to see theu* rivals so summarity disposed of; and it is
not impossible that they occasionally dropped a hint into the com-
mandant's ear. Captain Kendrick remained on the coast till fall,
collecting a large cargo of furs, and then sailed for Boston by the
way of China. It is claimed by some historians that before leaving
he sailed clear around Vancouver Island, and Meares' chart bears
an indication of the route pursued. This chart is of itself evidence
that the maker of it was ignorant of the nature of the inland chan-
nel, and the probabilities are that Meares misunderstood Kendrick's
account of the movements of the Lady Washington while under
the command of Captain Grray, and confusing them vsdth Kendrick's
assertion that there was a channel back of Nootka, a piece of infor-
mation gleaned fi^om the Indians, supposed that such a voyage had
been made. Although it is possible that he did circumnavigate the
island, yet it seems improbable, and Kendrick never laid claim to
such distinction in after years. If he did, then an American vessel
was the first to enter the Straits of Fuca and explore that wonder-
ful inland sea, the Gulf of Georgia; if not, then the honor belongs
to Spain, as will be shown later on.
So much for the events at Nootka; but there was a greater field
of action on which these differences were decided — Em'ope. The
Viceroy of New Spain made haste to notify the home government
of the important events which had happened in the far-off Pacific.
It took a long time for news to travel in those days, when there
were no telegraphs and no regular routes of intelligence between
these distant shores and Europe; consequently Spain, which was
Spain's supremacy in the pacific overthrown. 109
in the most intimate connection with the Pacific Coast, received the
news long before it reached England. The first intelligence received
by the British Cabinet was an ai-rogant and very undi])lomatic note
from Spain, on the tenth of February, 1790, notifying the King
that certain of his subjects had been trespassing upon the Pacific
possessions of Spain, and that in consequence of this the ship Ar-
gonaut had been seized as a prize and her crew made prisoners.
The note closed with an assertion of that exclusive right of Pacific
traffic which Spain had proclaimed for a century, and the enforce-
ment of which had led to the present complications; in pursuance
of that idea the punishment of the offenders was demanded, and an
earnest protest made against the King permitting any of his subjects
to make settlements, or engage in fishing, or trade mth the natives
on the American Coast of the Pacific. To such haughty language
the King of England was entirely unaccustomed. Great Britain
never had even constructively admitted any of the exclusive privi-
leges claimed by Spain, and she was not now likely to tamely sub-
mit to them when they were so arrogantly promulgated in justifica-
tion of an outrage committed upon her subjects. The response was
prompt and characteristic of that nation, whose vigilant guardian-
ship of her citizens extends to the remotest corners of the earth.
The Court of Madrid was notified that since it was evident from
the Spanish protest that English subjects had been imprisoned and
their property confiscated, full reparation must be made and satis-
faction for the insult given, before the merits of the controversy
would be considered at all. Spain, England and France were just
beginning to recuperate fi'om the effect of the struggles in which
they had been engaged, and each of them was anxious to avoid
further hostilities ; yet the dignity of England required her to take
a bold stand in defense of her subjects. The belligerent tone of
her response set Spain at once to preparing for war, to avoid which
she modified her demands considerably, notifying His Majesty that
the restoration had already been made and the matter would be
allowed to drop, if he would promise in future to keep his subjects
away from the Spanish possessions.
This Avas the status of affairs in April, when Meares arrived from
China. When the Cohmibia reached Canton, in the fall of 1789,
with intelligence of the Nootka proceedings, Meares armed himself
110 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
mth documents and depositions and embarked for London, to lay
his grievances before the King. On the thirtieth of May he addressed
a memorial to his sovereign, detailing the affair fi^om his standpoint,
and though it was full of misrepresentations, as has since been con-
clusively sho^\m, it was adopted as the correct version by the gov-
ernment. From this report it seemed that three vessels had been
seized, instead of one, and that Englishmen had taken possession of
Nootka before the Spaniards, since Meares declared that the North-
west America was an English vessel, and that when he built her
he had established a permanent settlement on land purchased from
the Nootka Chief, Maquiuna. He did not inform the King that the
little schooner had never flaunted any flag but that of Portugal, and
that when the vessel was finished the building in which the work-
men had lived was turned over to Maquiuna in payment for the
23rivilege of temporary occupation of the land, as had been agreed
upon in the beginning. England, on the fifth of May, sent a reply
to the second note fi'om Spain, asserting that she was not prepared
to admit the exclusive privileges claimed by Spain, but that she was
prepared to protect her subjects, and would not consider the ques-
tion at all until proper satisfaction had been given. On the six-
teenth of May, England made a formal demand upon Spain for
restitution of the captured vessels, indemnity for losses sustained
(estimated by Meares at $653,433), and full acknowledgement of
the right of English subjects to trade in the Pacific, and to establish
settlements at any points not already occupied by Spain. On the
twenty -fifth the whole correspondence was laid by the King before
Parliament, which had before been ignorant of it, and he was warmly
applauded for his conduct and assured of support.
S]3ain's position was an exceedingly humiliating one. Even in
her decline she had maintained the haughty spirit and arrogant
assumption of superiority and exclusive rights which had first been
asserted by those potent monarchs, Charles and Philip, but which
now, with her fast waning power, she was not able to support by
force of arms. England's vigorous preparations for war seriously
alarmed her. She had too many unprotected colonies, dependencies
fi'om which she derived great revenues, to risk a war with a power-
ful maritime nation, whose operations, of course, would be chiefly
directed against those vulnerable points. In the long negotiations
SPAIN S SUPEEMACY IN THE PACIFIC OVEETHEOWN. Ill
Avhich followed slie again modified her position, stating that she had
no desire to claim any territory not justly hers, that the vessels had
alread}'- been restored, and that she was willing to pay any damages
which might be assessed against her by arbitrators to whom the
case should be submitted. England was proud and overbearing,
and putting aside equity, acted througliout as her interests seemed
to indicate, conscious of her superior powder. She assembled the
greatest armament the nation had ever prepared, and was ready at
a day's notice to make a descent upon the Spanish settlements in
America. She even formed an alliance with Sweden and the
Netherlands, in anticipation of the co-operation of France and Spain
against her. It was a well-known fact that there existed a compact
of mutual defense betw^een the monarchs of France and Spain, both
members of the Bourbon family, and it was natural for England to
expect it to be fulfilled. The King of Spain formally called upon
Louis XVI., of France, for the promised aid, and was assured
that it would be given; but when the matter came l)efore the Na-
tional Assembly that body refused to sanction any increase of the
military forces, and the King was powerless, for the spirit of that
bloody revolution which broke out three years later had already
l)anished al^soluteism from the kingdom. The Assembly examined
the treaty bet^veen England and Spain, investigated the cpiestion of
Pacific discoveries, especially the alleged voyage of Juan de Fuca,
of which no evidence could be found, and finally decided that the
nation would stand on the defensive with Spain, but could not be
relied upon for offensive operations. The national armament was
therefore largely increased. It was now England's turn to come
down fi'om her high horse. She saw that France would be drawn
into the war, and finding her new allies unreliable and that she
could not well afford the enormous expense of a war, the prepara-
tions for which had already depleted her treasury, she adopted a
more conciliatory tone, and her plenipotentiary submitted a propo-
sition which was accepted by the representative of Spain. This
was signed on the twenty-eighth of October, 1790, and is known as
the "Nootka Convention."
By this treaty it ^vas stipulated that all buildings and tracts of
land on the northwest coast of America of which Spanish officers
had dispossessed any British subjects, should }je restored; that just
112 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
reparation should be made by both parties to the agreement for any
acts of violence committed by the subjects of either of them upon
the subjects of the other; that any property seized should be re-
stored or compensated for; that subjects of Great Britain should
not approach within ten leagues of any part of the coast already
occupied by Spain; that north of that point both parties should
have equal rights, as well as south of the limits of Spanish settle-
ndents in South America. The treaty met mth violent opposition
both in Spain and England, but was finally ratified and went into
effect. The Spaniards looked upon it as a voluntary surrender of
their hereditary rights acquu'ed by the explorations and conquests
of their ancestors; that formerly Spain possessed exclusive rights
in the Pacific, which were now being surrendered to England vdth-
out any compensation whatever. On the other hand, the opposition
in England claimed that, whereas, formerly British subjects enjoyed
the right of trade in every quarter of the globe, the Government
had agreed by this treaty to surrender these rights in certain re-
gions to Spain, and that England had agreed to restrict her settle-
ments mthin certain limits where she had before asserted her priv-
ilege of settling colonies at any place not previously occupied. It
seemed to both parties that valuable and immemorial rights had
been surrendered without any compensation. Captain George Van-
couver was appointed commissioner on the part of Great Britain to
proceed to Nootka and execute that portion of the treaty which
referred to the restoration of propeiiy, and the celebrated Bodega
y Quadi*a was intrusted with the same duty on the part of Spain.
CHAPTER VIII.
PUGET SOUND AND COLUMBIA RIVER DISCOVERED.
Explo7ations of Lieutenant Quhnper in the Straits of Fuca — He takes
Formal Possession for Spain — Elisa Explores the Straits of Fuca
and Gulf of Georgia — Malaspina and Bustamante Search for the
Straits of Anian — Kendrick Again Visits the Coast and Buys Land
from the Lndians — Gray Arrives in the Columbia and Winters at
Clayoquot — Events of 1792 — Spain snakes a Last Effort to Explore
the Disputed Region — Arrival of Vancouver's Exj)editio7i — He Ex-
amines the Oregon Coast — Searches in Vain for the Rio de San
Roque — He Records his Unqualified Disbelief in such a River —
Gray Builds the '■^Adventure " at Clayoquot — He Discovers the Co-
lumbia River — Vancouver Explores Paget Sound and Falls in with
the Spaniards — He Examines the Coast Carefully — Meets Quadra at
Nootka — Finds Him Prepared with Proofs to Sustain the Cause of
Spain — They Fail to Agree on Terms — They Bestow their Names
upon the Lsland of Vancouver and Quadra — Broughton Explores
the Columbia — Vancotiver Finishes His Explorations and Retiirns
to England — The Nootka Question Settled and the Port Abandoned.
WHILE England and Spain were engaged in their belligerent
controversy^, the Viceroy of Mexico was busily employed in
exploring the region under dispute. His object was two-fold — to
learn if it was worth an effort to hold it, and if so, and Nootka had
to be abandoned to the English, to find a desirable point south of
that port for the foundation of a settlement. This he was doing with-
out being aware of the status of affairs in Europe. To this end he
dispatched a fleet in the spring of 1790, with instructions to again
take possession of Nootka Sound, fortify and defend it — artillery
and a company of soldiers were taken along for that purpose — and
use it as a base of explorations. The fleet was under the command
114 HISTOKY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
of Lieutenant Francisco Elisa, and consisted of tlie Concepcion, San
Carlos {Filipino) and the Princesa Real. A series of voyages was
at once undertaken, some of tliem directed northward to gain infor-
mation of the movements of the Russians. The most important was
that of Lieutenant Alferez Manuel Quimper, in the Princesa Real
{Princess Royal)., whicli had not yet l)een restored to Captain Col-
nett. In the summer of 1790 he left Nootka and entered the
Straits of Fuca, carefull}' examining both shores of the passage for
the distance of one hundred miles. This was probably the first
vessel to actually enter and explore the Straits of Fuca. He was
also the discoverer of Puget Sound, into which he penetrated a
short distance, and mistook it for an inlet, calling it " Enceiiada de
Caamano." He was prevented from extending his explorations
further in that direction by lack of time. He ]:>estowed names upon
many objects in that region, all of which now bear the titles after-
ward given them by Vancouver and others, except the main chan-
nel leading north, which he christened " Canal de Lopez de Haro."
On the lirst of August he took formal possession of that region in
the name of his sovereign, at Port Nunez Gaona, now known as
Neali Bay. He was prevented by head winds from returning to
Nootka, and falling in with the San Carlos, which had been on a
voyage to Alaska, the two vessels sailed for Monterey and San Bias.
There was no other vessel in those waters in 1790, so far as is
known, except the Argonaut, in which Captain Colnett was search-
ing for the Princess Royal, as l)efore stated.
In May, 1791, Elisa himsplf embarked in the San Carlos, which
had returned to Nootka, and started out to make a complete recon-
noisance of the coast fi'om Mount St. Elias to Trinidad, accompa-
nied by the Santa Sattirnina (or Horcasitas)., under Jose Maria
Narvaez. They entered the Straits of Fuca, ascertained that Caa-
maiio Inlet was an inland passage, which they did not enter, and
explored the Gulf of Georgia as far north as latitude 50", calling it
"Gran Canal de Nuestra Seiiora del Rosario la Marinera." They
bestowed many names, some of whicli are still retained as originally
applied, such as " San Juan Archipelago," " Guemes,'' " Tejada "
("Texada") " Islands," and "Port Los Angeles." Other names
which appear in his chart are still in use, but have in some man-
ner been shifted to other objects than those to which they were
PUGET SOUND AND COLUMBIA RIVER DISCOVERED. 115
originally given, such as "Caamano," "Fidalgo," ''Kosario,"
" Cordoba," etc. Many passages leading inland were observed but
not explored for lack of time; and this led him in his report to
the Viceroy to say: "It appears that the oceanic passage so zeal-
ously sought for by foreigners, if there is one, can not be elsewhere
than by this gi'eat channel."
The revival of interest in the almost forgotten romance of Mal-
donado, caused by the controversy between England and Spain, led
the latter to make another effort to find those fabulous straits for
which so many had searched in vain. The corvettes Descubierta
and Atrevida, under the command of Alejandro Malaspina and
Jose de Bustamante y Gruerra, had sailed upon a voyage of circum-
navigation, and upon their arrival at Acapulco in the spring of
1791, were met by orders directing them to search for Maldonado's
Straits of Anian. They sailed, and first sighted land on the twenty-
third of June, near Mount Edgecumb. The coast line in the vicinity
of the sixtieth parallel was carefully examined, and being satisfied
that the passage he sought did not exist, Malaspina sailed south -
ward and anchored in Nootka Sound on the thirtieth of August,
about the time Elisa returned from the Gulf of Georgia. He soon
sailed southward to California.
During 1791, while the Spaniards were making these explora-
tions, the most complete and satisfactory ever accomplished by them,
one French, nine English and seven American vessels were also in
Pacific waters. As theii' objects were purely commercial, little of
importance was accomplished by any of them in the line of new
discoveries, though each added something to the increasing knowl-
edge of the coast. No trouble occiuTed between them and the
Spanish forces at Nootka. The Viceroy Re\dlla-Gigedo stated
{Informe, iji)'- "Although various craft of England and the
American Colonies frequented the adjacent coasts and ports, some
of them entering Nootka, nothing occurred to cause unpleasantness
or damage; and our new establishment was ahvays respected by
them, and provided with all that was needed by the other San Bias
vessels, which brought at the same time the supplies for the presid-
ios and missions of Alta California." Among these trading vessels
was the Lady Washington^ which had been transformed into a brig
ill Cliina, in doing which Captain Kendrick, wlio was an easy-going.
116 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
procrastinating individual, had lost a season's trade. This year he
was fairly successful in obtaining furs, and also in securing the pur-
chase of a large tract of land fi^om Chiefs Maquinna and Wicana-
nish, for which he received written deeds, duly signed by the grant-
ors with a cross. Copies of these deeds, which included practically
the whole of Vancouver Island except that already claimed by the
Spaniards, were forwarded to Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State,
and filed in the public archives. The other American vessel of note
was the Columbia Rediviva^ which was again sent to the Pacific in
the fall of 1790, arriving at the harbor of Clayoquot, on Vancouver
Island, just north of the Straits of Fuca, in June, 1791. She was
still under the command of Captain Robert Gray, her first ofiScer
being Robert Haswell, whose diary of the voyage, as well as of the
previous one, at which time he was second mate of the Lady Wash-
ington^ is one of the best and most reliable sources of information
in regard to the events of those voyages and the complications at
Nootka. Gray soon sailed for the Queen Charlotte Islands and
engaged in trade with the natives for several months, exploring
many inlets and channels. In latitude 54*^ 33", he entered a passage
and sailed northeastward a distance of one hundred miles without
finding an end. He then retm'ned to the sea, supposing he had
discovered the Rio de los Reyes of Admiral Fonte. He named one
portion of it " Massacre Cove," because of the murder of second
mate Caswell and two seamen by the natives. This supposed pas-
sage was Portland Inlet, through which runs the boundary separat-
. ing British Columbia from Alaska. Not having collected a suffi-
cient quantity of furs, owing to the number of vessels trading on
the coast. Gray decided to spend the winter at Clayoquot. He
accordingly anchored the Columbia in that harbor, built a house,
mounted cannon upon it, and then began the construction of a small
schooner, the frame of which he had brought from Boston. This
place he called " Fort Defiance." Kendrick had, a few weeks be-
fore, been engaged in repairing the Lady Washington^ at a point
in the same harl)or which he had christened " Fort Washington,"
but had departed for China soon after Gray's arrival.
The year 1792 was an important one in the history of the North-
west Coast. More discoveries were made and more important
explorations carried on than in any year before or since. Spain,
PiraET SOUND AKD COLUMBIA RIVER DISCOVERED. 117
England and the United States by sea, and a representative of the
great Northwest Company by land, threw a flood of light upon the
dark geography of the Coast. At least twenty -eight vessels visited
this region, the majority of them to engage in the fur trade, repre-
senting France, Spain, Portugal, England and the United States.
Passing by the majority of these without further mention, let us
turn our attention to those which made valuable discoveries. These
were the Columbia^ under Captain Gray, two vessels under Captain
Vancouver, and a small Spanish fleet.
Early in the spring of 1792, the Mexican Viceroy, not satisfied
with the great discoveries made by Quimper, Elisa, Malaspina and
Bustamante, made a last effort to determine the existence of the
Northwest Passage and the desirability of contending further for
the possession of Nootka. If there existed a navigaljle passage
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, then a station in that region would
be invalual )le to the interests of Spain ; but if the continent was
.continuous, so that vessels must always enter the Pacific fi'om the
south, then an estal)lishment in such a high latitude would not be
sufficiently valuable to render a contest for its possession advisable.
He, therefore, dispatched a vessel to search for the Rio de los Reyes
in latitude 58°; two others to explore more fully the Straits of Fuca,
and ascertain the exact nature of those many inland channels of the
existence of which simply the previous explorers had reported ; and
a fourth to seek a desirable location along the coast of the main land
south of , the Straits of Fuca, where a station might be established
in case the settlement at Nootka had to be abandoned and it was
deemed necessary to have one in this region. At the same time
Bodega y Quadra, \\\\o had Ijeen appointed commissioner to carry
out the stipulations of the Treaty of Nootka, proceeded to that port
to await the arrival of the representative of Great Britain. The
first of these w^as the Aranzazu^ commanded by Lieutenant Jacinto
Caamaiio, who minutely examined the Queen Charlotte Islands,
sailed through the passage between them and the main land (enter-
ing by Dixon Channel, which he called " Entrada de Perez," in
honor of the original discoverer), and made a comparatively accu-
rate map of that region. The expedition to the Straits of Fuca
consisted of the schooners Sutil and Mexicana^ commanded by offi-
cers detailed from Malaspina's expedition, and supplied by him with
118 inSTOKY OF AVILLAME'I'TK VALLEY.
scieiitiiic instriiineiits. They were commanded hy Dionisio Graliano
and Cayetano Valdez, and arrived at Nootka on the twelfth of May,
lea^^ng that port for theu' field of action on the fourth of June.
The fourth vessel was the Princesa. In this ship Lieutenant Sal-
vador Fidalgo sailed fi'om San Bias on the twenty-third of March,
and arrived at Port Nunez Gaona (Neah Bay) just within the en-
trance to the Straits of Fuca, where he erected ])uildings and forti-
fications. In Septemljer, having received orders from (Quadra to
abandon this post, he removed everything to Nootka. Other Span-
ish vessels passed up and down between Nootka and Monterey, or
San Bias, but theii' movements were immaterial.
The commissioner appointed on the part of England to carry
into effect certain provisions of the Nootka Treaty, referring to the
restoration of j)roperty at that port, was Captain George Vancouver,
of the Royal Na\^. The Admiralty took occasion to make his
voyage one of extended discovery, dii'ecting his attention especially
to the clearing up of geographical conundrums on the coast, par-
ticularly that of a river or any other inter-oceanic passage. Special
attention was to be directed to the " supposed Strait of Juan de
Fuca, said to be situated between the forty-eighth and forty-ninth
degrees of north latitude, and to lead to an opening through which
the sloop WasJiington is reported to have passed in 1789, and to
have come out again at the northward of Nootka." This voyage
of the Washington, as has been already stated, was never made;
Meares, who had carried the report to England, having confused
Captain Kendrick's account of the movements of that vessel with
geographical statements of the Indians. Vancouver commanded
the sloop of war Discovery, and accompanied by the armed tender
Chatham, under Lieutenant W. R. Broughton, sailed in March,
1791. It is needless to follow his movements for the first year, as
they do not concern the purposes of this volume; it is sufficient to
say that after a year of exploration in other regions, he arrived off
the coast of California in April, 1792, in the vicinity of Cape
Mendociuo.
Here he began a most carefid examination of the coast, strict
watch being kept for signs of harbors and navigable rivers, espec-
ially at first of the river reported above the forty-third parallel by
Martin de Aguilar in 1603. A point in latitude 42° 52' was at
Pl'<iET SOUXD AXD COLUMBIA IJIVKi: 1)IS<H>VEREI). 119
first conceived to be the Ca})e Blanco of the Spaniards, Ijiit since it
was composed of dark, craggy rocks, instead of being white, Vau-
ccHiver entered it on his chart as " Cape Orford." A little further on,
in latitude 48° 23', he observed a cape with white cliffs, which he
l)elieved to be the true Blanco, but as he also considered it the one
Captain Cook liad called " Cape Gregory," he entered the latter
name on his chart. For some distance he ranged along the shore
mthin a league, looking carefully for Aguilar's River, but observed
no stream having any such volume of water as was ascribed to the
one reported by the Spaniard, and, indeed, saw none that offered
the least indication of l^eing navigable for ships. The next point
of special interest to be examined was that in the vicinity of lati-
tude 46*^, where was locatad the place called " Ensenada de Heceta,"
or " Rio de San E,0(|ue," on his Spanish charts, and " Deception
Bay" on the English ones. On the twenty -seventh of April he
recorded in his journal:
Noon brought us up with a conspicuous point of land composed of a cluster of
hummocks, moderately high and projecting into the sea. On the south side of this
promontory was the appearance of an inlet, or small river, the land not indicating
it to be of any great extent, nor did it seem to be accessible to vessels of our burthen,
as the breakers extended from the above point two or three miles into the ocean,
until they joined those on the beach nearly four leagues further south. On refer-
ence to Mr. Meares' description of the coast south of this promontory, I was at first
induced to believe it was Cape Shoalwater, but on ascertaining its latitude, I pre-
sumed it to be what he calls Cape Disappointment; and the opening to the south of
it Deception Bay. This cape was found to be in latitude 46° 19', and longitude 236°
6'. [He reckoned east from Greenwich.] The sea now changed from its natural to
river-coloured water ; the probable consequence of some streams falling into the
bay, or into the ocean to the north of it, through the low land. Not considering
this opening worthy of more attention, I continued our pursuit to the N. W., being
desirous to embrace the advantages of the prevailing breeze and pleasant weather,
so favourable to our examination of the coast .
Vancouver rounded Cape Disappointment and continued up the
shore. He says: "The country before us presented a most luxuri-
ant landscape, and was prol)ably not a little heightened in value by
the weather that prevailed. The more interior parts were some-
what elevated, and agreeably diversified ^^dth hills, from which it
gradually descended to the shore, and terminated in a sandy l)each.
The whole had the appearance of a continued forest extending
north as far as the eye could reach, which made me very solicitous
to find a port in the vicinity of a country presenting so delightful a
prospect of fertility ; our attention was therefore earnestly directed
120 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
to tliis object. " At one time he ^vas of the opinion tliat Shoalwater
Bay presented a snitable hai'l)or, l)nt renounced the ])elief upon
attempting to enter the bay and failing Ijecause of the presence of
an unbroken line of breakers. They passed Gray's Harl^or in the
night, and after noting the position of Destruction Island and
obser™g Mount Olympus, " the most remarkable mountain we
had seen on the coast of New Albion," fell in with the Columbia a
few miles south of the Straits of Fuca.
Vancouver sent an officer to the American vessel to glean infor-
mation fi'om its commander, who hesitated not to tell him all he
knew of the coast, including a denial of the report that he had
sailed around Vancouver Island in the Lady Washington. Among
other things the English captain notes in his journal: "He likewise
informed them of his ha^dng been off the mouth of a river in lati-
tilde 46° 10", where the outset, or reflux, was so strong as to pre-
vent his entering for nine days. This was probably the opening
passed by us on the forenoon of the twenty-seventh; and was,
apparently, inaccessible, not from the current, but from the breakers
that extended across it." That Gray must have made this effort to
enter the Columbia sometime the previous year is evident fi'om
the fact that Vancouver states that he "was now commencing
his summer's trade along the coast to the southward." The above
remarks show plainly that Vancouver had no faith in the existence
of such a stream as Aguilar's River, Rio de San Roque, Oregon, or
River of the AVest, and this is rendered more certain by an entry
in his journal made upon reaching Cape Flattery, that there —
Was not the least appearance of a safe or secure harbour, either in that latitude, or
from it southward to Cape Mendocino ; notwithstanding that, in that space, geogra-
phers had thought it expedient to furnish many. * * * So minutely had
this extensive coast been inspected, that the surf had been constantly seen to break
upon its shores from the mast-head ; and it was but in a few small intervals only,
where our distance precluded its being visible from the deck. Whenever the weather
prevented our making free with the shore, or on our hauling off for the night, the
return of fine weather and of daylight uniformly brought us, if not to the identical
spot we had departed from, at least within a few miles of it, and never beyond the
northern limits of the coast which we had previously seen. An examination so
directed, and circumstances happily concurring to permit its being so executed,
afforded the most complete opportunity of determining its various turnings and
windings. * * * It must be considered as a very singular circumstance
that, in so great an extent of sea coast, we should not until now [He had entered
the Straits of Fuca] have seen the appearance of any opening in its shores which
presented any certain prospect of affording shelter; the whole coast forming one
PLTGET SOUND AND COLUMBIA KTYEK DISCOVERED. 121
compact, solid and nearly straight barrier against the sea. The river Mr. Gray
mentioned should, from the latitude he assigned it, have existence in the bay, south
of Cape Disappointment. This we passed on the forenoon of the twenty-seventh ;
and, as I then observed, if any inlet or river should be found, it must be a very in-
tricate one, and inaccessible to vessels of our burthen, owing to the reefs and broken
water which then appeared in its neighborhood. Mr. Gray stated that he had been
several days attempting to enter it, which at length he had been unable to effect, in
consequence of a very strong outset. This is a phenomenon difficult to account for
[Gray accounted for it easily enough by the theory that the outset was the discharg-
ing of an unusually large river, a conclusion Vancouver would not admit because he
had been there and had not seen it J, as, in most cases where there are outsets of such
strength on a sea coast, there are corresponding tides setting in. Be that, however,
as it may, I was thoroughly convinced, as were also most persons of observation on
board, that we could not possibly have passed any safe navigable opening, harbour,
or place of security for shii3ping on this coast, from Cape Mendocino to the Prom-
ontory of Classett (Cape Flattery) ; nor had we any reason to alter our opinions.
The coast has since been found much less barren of harbors
than this distinguished navigator supposed, though, with the single
exception of the Colum})ia, there are none affording entrance to
large vessels without first undergoing improvement. Leaving Cap-
tain Vancouver in the Straits of Fuca, let us follow the movements
of the American vessel.
The Colum'bia, as has been stated, wintered at Fort Defiance
in the harbor of Clayoquot, her crew being busily employed in con-
structing a small sloop, which was launched in February and chris-
tened the Adventure. This was the second vessel constructed on
the Pacific Coast north of the Spanish possessions, Meares' North-
west Amei'-ica being the first. Haswell, the first mate, was placed
in command and sent northward on a trading voyage along the
coast on the second of April, while Gray sailed south in the Co-
lumbia. Nothing is known of his movements until the second of
May, except what Vancouver records as having learned from him
as stated above. This was on the twenty -ninth of April, when
they met just below the entrance to Fuca Straits. From that it
appears he had been off Deception Bay, either that spring or the
year before, which he believed to be the entrance to a large river,
and which he had in vain endeavored to enter for nine days. The
vessels parted; Vancouver scouting the idea that a river could pos-
sibly exist at that point, since he had been there and had not ob-
served it, sailed into the Straits of Fuca in search of an inter- oceanic
passage; Gray, con\anced of the correctness of his own observa-
tions, sailed southward to discover and enter the greatest river on
122 rrisTOUY of Willamette valley.
tlie Pacific Coast and the second in size on the continent of North
America.
On the seventh of May Gray entered a port in latitude 46° 58',
which he named " Bulfinch Harbor," in honor of one of the owners
of his vessel. He sailed out again on the tenth, ha™g, wliile
there, repulsed an attack by the natives, killing some of the assail-
ants, and on the eleventh safely crossed the bar which had before
baffled him, and sailing ten miles up the stream cast anchor in the
mighty Columbia, for so he named it in honor of his vessel. He also
bestowed the name "Cape Hancock" uj)on the high promontory
on the north, which had before been known as " Cal)o de San
Koque" and "Point Disappointment;" and upon the low point on
the south, formerly called " Cape Frondoso," he bestowed the name
•" Point Adams." Three days later he ascended the stream fifteen
miles further, and having gotten into shoal water by reason of miss-
ing the channel, he dropped down again, and anchored nearer the
mouth. The inhabitants of the Chinook village on the north bank
were very fiiendly, and from them Gray obtained a large quantity
of furs. It was not until the twentieth that the bar was smooth
enough to permit the Cohmibia to cross out, but on that day she
sailed northward, and later, at two points on the upper coast, had
bloody conflicts mth Indians who attacked her. Here was met the
Adventure^ which had been twdce around Queen Charlotte Islands
and had enjoyed only a moderate trade with the Indians. They
then made another trading voyage to the north, during which the
Columbia struck upon a rock in the inland passage just above lati-
tude 52°, and was considerably damaged. She succeeded in reach-
ing Nootka, where, with the assistance of the Spaniards, she was
soon made tight and seaworthy again. She again sailed north, met
the AdventuT-e at Port Montgomery, on Queen Charlotte Island,
and both vessels returned to Nootka, where Gray found Captain
Vancouver and gave him a memorandum of his discovery of the
Columbia River. He then sailed for home by way of Sandwich
Islands and China, having first sold tlie Adventure to Quadra for
seventy -five select sea-otter skins.
After speaking the Columbia^ Vancouver's two vessels entered
the Straits of Fuca on the thirtieth of April, and proceeded slowly
inland, making a careful examination as he progressed. The ves-
PUGET SOUND AND COLUMBIA KIVEH DI80OVEKED. 123
sels anchored at Port Discovery (the Porto Bodega y Quadra of
Lieutenant Quimper), and from that place, as a rendezvous, Captain
Vancouver and Lieutenants Menzies, Puget and Johnstone explored
the channels and bays to the southward for about four weeks.
Vancouver bestowed the following well-known names in that region:
" Puget Sound," in honor of Lieutenant Puget; "Hood's Canal,"
for Lord Hood; "Admiralty Lilet;" "Mount Rainier," after Rear
Admiral Rainier of the English Navy; " Vashon Island," after Cap-
tain Vashon; "Port Orchard," the name of the officer who discov-
ered it; "Possession Sound," where he landed on the fourth of June
and took possession in the name of King George of England;
" Port Townsend," in compliment to the " noble Marquis of that
name;" " Whidby Island," after one of his lieutenants; "Mount
Bakei," discovered by Lieutenant Baker; " Bellingham Bay;"
"Deception Passage;" " New Dunginess " (the Point Santa Cruz
of Quimper's chart), because of a fancied resemblance to Dun-
giness in the British Channel. When he took possession on the
fourth of June he applied the title "New Georgia" to all the coast
above latitude 39° 20', which ^vas certainly cutting California off
very short above San Francisco Bay. This ceremony amounted to
nothing more than a celebration of the King's birthday, since, un-
der the Nootka Convention, neither party could acquire territorial
rights by any such proceeding, a farce which Perez, Heceta, Bo-
dega and Captain Cook had enacted years before at various places.
As he emerged from Puget Sound and sailed northward into the
Canal del Rosario, which he re-christened " Gulf of Georgia," he
fell in with the two Spanish vessels, Szi^i/ and Mexicana^ whose
presence there has already been mentioned. Galiano and Valdez
had entered the Straits of Fuca on the fourth of June, and had sur-
veyed as far north as Tejada (Texada) Island. When the Spanish
and English fleets encountered each other there followed an inter-
change of courtesies, leading to an agreement to unite their labors.
For about three weeks they explored in company, but then the pride
of the Spaniards would not permit them to longer endure the air of
superiority assumed by the English commander, who, when they
had explored an inlet, would not accept their report as final, but
made a second exploration himself. That his distrust of the Span-
ish surveys was unfounded is amply proven by the charts of each
124 IIlftTOKY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
after they resumed independent action. The Spanish maps were as
accurate in detail as those of Vancouver, and even more so, since
they noted the entrance to Fraser River, called " Rio Blancho," the
existence of which the Englishman denied. Galiano and Valdez
continued their explorations northward, entered the Pacific on the
twenty -third of August, hy a passage at the north end of Vancouver
Island, and returned to Nootka, having made the first complete cir-
cumnavigation of the Island.
When the vessels parted company, Vancouver continued north-
ward, in advance of the Spaniards, and entered the ocean through
Queen Charlotte's Sound, where the Chatham groimded on the
rocks, but was safely put afloat again. The long channel above the
Gulf of Georgia he called "Johnstone's Strait," after one of his
lieutenants, and the names now borne by the most important objects
in that region were also bestowed by him, such as " Burrard Canal,"
" Bute Canal," " Broughton Archipelago," " Knight's Canal,"
" Smith's Inlet," " Rivers Canal," etc. The fact that Vancouver's
report was published several years before that of Galiano and
Valdez's, aiid that this region was sul)sequently settled by English
speaking people, accounts for the survival of the English nomen-
clature. He continued his explorations as far north as latitude 52°
18', when he turned about and sailed for Nootka Sound, reaching
that port on the twenty-eighth of August. Here he found the store
ship Dcedalus^ which had been sent out from England with supplies
and fresh instructions for his guidance in arranging affairs at Nootka.
There he remained for more than a month, engaged in the fulfill-
ment of the diplomatic purposes of his visit.
While awaiting Vancouver's arrival. Quadra had not l)een idle,
but had been gathering evidence from the Indians and traders, and
was especially fortunate in securing a statement of the events of
1788-9 at Nootka, signed l)y Gray, Viana (then commanding a Por-
tuguese vessel), and Ingraham, the latter being now the commander
of the trading vessel Hope. All three of these were officers of ves-
sels which were present at Nootka during the occurrence of the dis-
puted events. They testified that the Englishmen had not been
^dispossessed of any lands and buildings whatever; that the only
pretense to a settlement by them was the temporary occupation of
a small piece of ground by Meares in 1788, while he was building
rUGET SOUND AND COLUMBIA RIVER DISCOVERED. 125
the Northwest America^ which, \nth the hut the workmen had
occupied, was abandoned when that work was completed; also, that
all this was done under the Portuo-uese ilas^, the schooner beino'
launched and sent out upon a cruise under the same ensign. Accord-
ing to the treaty, it will be remembered, all buildings and tracts of
land of which the subjects of His Britannic Majesty had been dis-
possessed by a Spanish officer, were to be restored. For that pur-
pose Vancouver had come, expecting, of course, to have Nootka
surrendered; but he was met by Quadra with proofs showing that,
according to the terms of the treaty, there was nothing to be sur-
rendered. Vancouver would listen to nothing but a transfer of the
port, though he was unal^le to show any precise stipulation to that
effect in the treaty. Quadi'a offered to give np Nootka if Vancou-
ver ^^■ ould recognize all the coast sonth of Fuca Straits as exclusively
Spanish ; or he offered to surrender absolutely the small parcel of
land on which Meares' cabin had stood and to station liimself at the
new port in the Straits of Fuca until a decision on the question
could be had fi'oni Europe. Vancouver would agree to no propo-
sitions whatever. He came, he said, to receive an unconditional
surrender of the port, and if Quadra would not consent to make it
he w^ould depart. It was finally decided that the present status
should be maintained and the two commissioners should submit the
facts to their respective governments. Consequently, Vancouver
dispatched two messengers to England, one via China, on a Portu-
guese trading vessel, and one on a Spanish vessel to Mexico and
thence to Europe. Quadra returned to Monterey, stopping on the
way at Nunez Gaona, to order Fidalgo to abandon the new settle-
ment there and proceed to Nootka and assume command of that
port. It was fortunate for Quadra that he was as cautious as has
been shown, for a few weeks later royal orders were received to
suiTender Nootka upon no consideration whatever. The personal
reLations of the commissioners were most cordial, and before they
left they agreed to name the large island after themselves, and it
was accordingly entered upon l^oth the Spanish and English charts
as the " Island of Vancouver and Quadra." In after years, owing
to plainly apparent causes, the latter's name was di-opped fi'om the
title. The indemnity to be paid by Spain to Meares and his asso-
ciates was finally fixed at |210,()(M), less than one-third of the
126 HISTOKY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
amount claiuied, but much moi'e than the actual damage suffered.
When he had concluded his negotiations, Vancouver, armed
with a rough chart of the Columbia's mouth, which Gray had left
at Nootka, sailed southward with his fleet, now increased to three
vessels. On the eighteenth of October the Dcedalus^ commanded
l:»y Lieutenant Whidby, entered Bulfinch's, or Gray's Harbor, to
make a thorough examination, while her two consorts continued to
the mouth of the Columl^ia. On the morning of the nineteenth the
Chatham and Discovciy attempted the passage of the bar, the
former crossing safely, but the latter hauling off for fear there was
not a suflicient depth of water. This circumstance led Vancouver
to record in his journal that his "former opinion of this port being
inaccessible to vessels of our burthen was now fully confirmed, with
this exception, that in very fine weather, with moderate winds, and
a smooth sea, vessels not exceeding four hundred tons might, so far
as we were a])le to judge, gain admittance." It was while lying at
anchor off the bar that he gained a view of a "high, round snow
mountain ".far up the stream, which he named " Mount St. Helens,"
in honor of his Britannic Majesty's ambassador at the court of
Madrid.
The first sound that saluted the commander of the Chatham
upon crossing the bar was the report of a cannon, which was an-
swered in a similar manner by Lieutenant Broughton. It came
from a Bristol Brig called the Jenny, lying in a sheltered bay within
the mouth of the stream, which has ever since been known as
" Baker's Bay," in honor of the captain of that little craft. This
made the second vessel to enter the river before these official repre-
sentatives of Great Britain undertook to explore it. The Chatham
lay in the river several days, during which time Broughton ascended
the stream in a boat some one hundred and twenty miles, as far as
a point which he named in honor of the commander of the expedi-
tion, being the same upon which Fort Vancouver was afterward
built by the Hudson's Bay Company. The high snow-crowned
peak rising above the Cascades to the east he called " Mount Hood."
During his stay he formally "took possession of the river and the
country in its vicinity in his Britannic Majesty's name, ha\dng every
reason to believe that the subjects of no other civilized nation or
state had ever entered this river before." The closing portion of
PUGET SOUND AND COLUMBIA RIVER DISCOVERED. 127
this sentence sounds strangely from one who had in his possession
at the time he penned it the rough chart made by Gra}^, which had
been the cause of his being there at all. It is explained by saying
that he affected to consider the broad estuary near the mouth of the
stream as no portion of the river, and that in consequence Gray,
though he had ascended the stream t^venty-hve miles, had not
entered the river proper. This strained construction England
maintained in the after controversy Avith the United States a1)out
the rights of discovery.
Vancouver wintered at the Hawaiian Islands, returning to
Nootka in May, 1793, and finding that no news had been received
fi'om Europe, sailed north to continue his examination of the coast
from the point he had reached the year before. He spent the sum-
mer ill this ^\'ork, making, with the aid of Caamaiio's previous
chart, (juite an accurate map of the coast. From latitude 53° 30'
to 57° he called the country "New Cornwall;" south of that to near
Georgia he named it " Ne^v Hanover," taking formal and ceremo-
nious possession of it all in the name of King George. . Upon his
return to Nootka in October, he found that no instructions had ar-
rived fi'om home, and he sailed for California. The Spaniards still
remained in quiet ]^^)ossession of the disputed port. Quite a number
of trading vessels were on the coast that season, but the peculiar
commercial character of their voyages prevented them fi'om accom-
plishing anything of geographical or historical value.
In April, 1793, the Mexican Viceroy, Revilla-Gigedo, sent a full
I'eport of the events and status of affairs at Nootka to the home
government, accompanied by I'ecommendations for the futiu'e course
of Spain. These were to the effect that recent explorations had prac-
tically demonstrated that no Northwest Passage existed, unless, in-
deed, it was found by way of the Columbia River, or Entrada de
Heceta, and consequently that the trouble and expense of maintain-
ing a station as far north as Nootka was unnecessary for the pro-
tection of Spanish interests. He advised that the Columbia be ex-
plored and occupied, if found to connect mth the Atlantic or with
New Mexico; otherw^ise he advised the strengthening of the north-
ernmost stations in California, the occupation of Bodega Bay, and
any other desiraljle harbor which might be found north of that
point. He prepared to dispatch t\N o vessels to survey the Colum-
128 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
bia In the spring of 1794, but for some reason tlie project was
abandoned. Early that year word was received from Spain that
the points in dispute had been settled. Quadi*a died in March, and
Gen. Jose Manual d Alava was appointed his successor, and sent to
Nootka Avith the understanding that his instructions would follow
him.
Captain Vancouver again visited the northern coast in the spring
of 1791, and extended his explorations as far as the head of Cook's
Inlet, becoming convinced that no passage whatever connected the
Pacific with the Atlantic oi* any of the bays or seas leading off from
it. He then went to Nootka, ariiving on the second of September,
where he found Alava, the Spanish commissioner. Neither was
aware of the terms of settlement, so they enjoyed each other's hos-
pitalities and awaited instructions^ No orders having been received
by the sixteenth the commissioners sailed for Monterey, where Al-
ava soon afterwards received his instructions. These were to the
effect that an amicable settlement had been arrived at, and that
England had ap]3ointed a new commissioner. Upon receipt of this
intelligence Vancouver at once set sail for England, where he ar-
rived in October, 1795. His narrative of his four years' voyage
and explorations, the most complete and impoi'tant ever issued up
to that time, was published in 1798, previous to which the great
explorer died.
The settlement spoken of was the one signed at Madrid hy the
representatives of Spain and England, on the eleventh of January,
1794. The tide of European politics had so turned that it was then
the best policy of both England and Spain to form an alliance,
hence the mutual concessions in this agreement. The treaty pro-
vided that commissioners of both nations should meet at Nootka,
and that formal possession of the tract claimed by Meares be given
to the representative of England by the Spanish commissioner. It
continued in the following explicit language: —
Then the British officer shall unfurl the British flag over the land thus restored
as a sign of possession, and after these formalities the officers of the two crowns
shall retire respectively their people from the said port of Nootka. And their said
majesties have furthermore agreed that the subjects of both nations shall be free to
frequent the said port as may be convenient, and to erect there temporary buildings
for their accommodation during their residence on such occasions. But neither of
the two parties shall make in said port any permanent establishment, or claim there
any right of sovereignty or territorial dominion to the exclusion of the other. And
PUGET SOUND AND COLUMBIA RIVER DISCOVERED. 129
their said majesties will aid each other to maintain their subjects in free access to
the said port of Nootka against whatever other nation may attempt to establish
there any sovereignty or dominion.
This solemn farce was actually enacted there on the twenty -third
of March, 1795, by General Alava on the part of Spain, and Lien-
tenant Thomas Pierce as representative of Great Britain. Every-
thing portable was then embarked on the Spanish vessels, which
sailed away and left Nootka again in the sole possession of the
natives. From that day to this no white settlement has been at-
tempted at that historical port. English historians, and many others
wi^iting, like them, fi'om incomplete data, have asserted that the port
of Nootka was surrendered to England by the Spaniards ; but such
the above quotation from the treaty shows not to have been the
case. Only the small patch of ground claimed by Meares to have
been purchased from Maquinna was formally transferred ; and Eng-
land was as fu^mly bound as Spain not to make any future settle-
ment at that point, while both were at liberty to occupy any other
points they might see fit. Their interests in Europe, however, were
so closely linked for the next few years that neither felt it necessary
to attempt any settlements on the upper Pacific Coast as a safeguard
against the other. No other nation attempted to plant a colony
here, and thus the matter stood for nearly a score of years, when
the question of ownership was raised by a new claimant — the United
States. Traders continued to carry on the fur business as before,
but their operations were of little historical importance.
CHAPTER IX.
OVERLAND JOURNEYS TO THE PACIFIC.
Organization of the Northwest Company of Montreal- Mackenzie's
Journey to the Arctic Ocean — His Trip to the Pacific in 1792 — Dis-
covery and Naming of Fraser River — Treaty of 1791^. Opens a West-
ern Field for American Traders — Conflicting Claims of Various
Nations at the Beginning of the Present Century — Spain Reconveys
Louisiana to France in 1800 — Thomas Jefferson'' s Efforts to have the
Unknown Region Explored — Louisiana Purchased hy the United
States — The Lewis and Clarke Expedition — They Winter with the
Mandan Lndians — Ascend the Missouri — Cross to darkens Fork —
Reach the Nez Perces — Descend Clearwater, Lewis {Snake) and
Columbia Rivers to the Pacific — Winter at Fort Clatsop — The Mult-
nomah, or Willamette, River- — The Walla Walla, Cay use and Nez
Perce Indians — Lewis and Clarke Descend the Telloiostone and
Missouri — Effect of their Great Journey— Anxiety of Great Britain
— Fort Eraser Established in New Caledonia — Fort Henry Built
on Snake River.
IT has been related how the early French explorers pushed their
way gradually westward, until, in 1743, the Verendryes pene-
trated to the heart of the Kocky Mountains, and how, with the con-
(^uest of Canada by the English, these explorations suddenly ceased.
Thirty years elapsed before they were again resumed by subjects of
the new rulers of Canada, except in the instance of Captain Carver,
whose pretentious claims have ali'eady been considered. Meanwhile,
the American Colonies had fought and gained the War of Inde-
pendence, and, as a result, England was deprived of all her posses-
sions south of the great chain of lakes. France had sold Louisiana
to Spain, as has been related, which gave that nation, in conjunction
•with her California possessions, proprietary claim to the whole
i
OVERLAND JOURNEYS TO THE PACIFIC. 131
country lying between the Mississippi and the Pacific, and extend-
ing indefinitely northward. How extensive that region was, or ^
what it contained, no one knew, and the Spanish owners were not
inquisitive enough to find out. England was cut off from it except
in the region lying north of Minnesota, certainly not a very inviting-
field for exploration; and the young Republic was too busy setting
its government in good running order to engage in explorations of
new territories. When, at last, westw^ard jom-neys were again
undertaken, it was solely by private enterprise in the interests of
trade.
A number of Montreal fui- traders pushed as far westward as
the Athabasca and Saskatchewan as early as 1775, and carried on
an independent trade with the natives. Competition with the Hud-
son's Bay Company became too heavy for them individually, and
in 1784 they combined together as the Northwest Company of Mon-
treal. Thus strengthened, and all its agents being interested part-
ners, it prospered wonderfully and became, in a few years, a most
powerful organization. In 1788 the station which had been estab-
lished ten years before on Athabasca River was removed to Lake
Athabasca, some twelve hundred miles northwest of Lake Superior,
and called " Fort Chipe^vyan," and this became the great western
headquarters of the company. Traders covered the whole country
east of the Rocky Mountains almost to the Arctic.
This advance post was under the charge of Alexander Macken-
zie, a partner in the Northwest Company, who made a journey to
the north in 1789, discovered the Mackenzie River, and followed it
fi'om its source in Great Slave Lake to where it discharges its icy
waters into the Arctic Ocean. By this journey the character and
extent of the continent to the northwest was ascertained, as well as
the fact that there existed no passage between the Atlantic and Pacific
south of the gi'eat northern sea. In 1791 he started with a small
party upon a western trip, intent upon reaching the Pacific. Fol-
lowing up Peace River to the base of the Rocky Mountains, he
camped there for the winter, and in the spring continued his journey
along the course of that stream and came upon the Fraser River,
down which he passed in canoes a distance of two hundred and fifty
miles. To this stream he applied the Indian title of " Tacoutchee-
Tassee," a name somewhat similar to that which the navigators liad
132 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
a few years before applied to the Straits of Fuca. He finally
abandoned the river and struck directly westward, reaching the
coast at the North Bentinck Arm, only a short time after it had
been explored by Vancouver's fleet. When he learned upon his
return that the mouth of the Columbia had been discovered, he
supposed that the large river which he had followed so far south-
ward must be that great stream; and so it was considered to be
until twenty years later, when Simon Fraser, a representative of
the same fur company, descended it to its mouth in the Gulf of
Georgia, and ascertained its true character. As Mackenzie's name
was already applied to a large river, this stream was then christened
" Fraser River."
These various sea and land expeditions had proved three very
important facts : first, that there was no water passage for vessels
across the continent; second, that by following the courses of
streams and lakes the overland journey could be nearly accom-
plished in boats; third, that this vast unexplored region abounded
in fur-bearing animals, a fact which led, in a few years, to its occu-
pation by the rival fm- traders, both English and American. At
this time the Spanish claim of Louisiana clouded the whole region
west of the Mississippi, and though its limits were undefined, it
extended indefinitely into the unknown region lying north of Mexico
and California. The Americans were especially hampered in then*
trading operations on the frontier. The JVEississippi formed a defi-
nite and recognized western boundery to the territory of the United
States, and the line of forts along the south side of the chain of
great lakes were still held by Great Britain, notwithstanding they
should have been surrendered under the treaty of 1783. When
that convention was formed, the representatives of England endeav-
ored to have the Alleghanies fixed as the western limit of the
new nation, but the American commissioners insisted that as
British colonies the states had previously exercised jurisdiction as
far west as the Mississippi, and the safety of the Republic requii'ed
that she still continue to do so; and they carried their point. By
a special treaty made in 1794, England surrendered possession of
the lake posts, and the two nations agreed that both should have
um'estricted intercourse and trade in the great western region.
From that time American traders extended their operations further
OVERLAND JOURNEYS TO THE PACIFIC. 133
westward. The Hudson^s Bay Company also began to invade the
field occupied by its gi-eat rival, the Northwest Company of
Montreal.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century the territorial claims
of the various nations on the Pacific Coast were exceedingly con-
flicting. The claim of Russia to Alaska was recognized as valid,
having been established both l^y discovery and occupation ; though
as yet no definite southern limit was fixed. Spain's claim to Cali-
fornia was also undisputed, extending to the forty -second parallel.
Between these two l)oth England and Spain claimed title by right of
discovery only, since by the Nootka convention both had agreed to
base no claim whatever upon the actual or asserted occupation of
theii" representatives or subjects at Nootka Sound. The United
States, also, by reason of Gray's discovery of the Columbia, had
laid a foundation for a claim to the whole region drained by that
mighty river, as yet unasserted, but which was pressed with much
vigor and final partial success a few years later. Besides these dis-
covery rights, the Louisiana Province, which France had transferred
to Spain in 1762, was construed by its possessor, or, more accu-
rately speaking, its technical claimant, to cover the whole region
west of the Mississippi not claimed by the same nation as portions
of Mexico and California. This title was reconveyed to France in
the year 1800, thus putting that nation again into the field as a
claimant of territory in the western portion of North America.
It will be remembered that John Ledyard, who had been one of
Captain Cook's seamen, undertook to interest American and French
capitalists in the Pacific fui' trade, soon after the return of that ex-
pedition to England. At that time Thomas Jefferson was the rep-
resentative of the United States at the Court of Versailles, and he
became deeply interested in this great western region. He naturally
preferred that his own country should fall heir to such a magnifi-
cent inheritance ; but more than a decade passed before the States
had perfected their government and regulated those national affairs
requiring immediate and careful consideration, and during that
time it was idle to think of further accessions of territory. How-
ever, in 1792, he proposed to the American Philosophical Society
that a subscription be raised for the purpose of engaging some com-
petent person to explore the country lying between the Mississippi
134 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
River and Pacific Ocean, " by ascending tlie Missonri, crossing the
Stony Mountains, and descending the nearest river to the Pacific."
His suggestion was acted upon, and the position ha^dng been eagerly
solicited Ijy Lieutenant Meriwether Lewis, a Virginian, that gentle-
man was selected at the recommendation of Mr. Jefferson. His
traveling companion was Mr. Andre Michaux, a distinguished
French botanist, then living in the United States in the employ of
his government. AYlien they had proceeded as far as Kentucky,
Mr. Michaux was recalled by the French Minister, and the expedi-
tion was abandoned.
Soon after France again acquired title to Louisiana, Napoleon
recognized tlie fact that it would only be a source of annoyance and
expense to the nation. His ambitious designs in Europe arrayed
England and other powerful nations in hostility to France, and to
avoid the necessity of having to provide for the protection of vast
territorial possessions, as well as to place in the field an active and
now powerful rival to England, he opened secret negotiations for
the transfer of the whole Province to the United States. Mr. Jef-
ferson was then President, and grasped eagerly the opportunity to
realize his long- cherished desire, and by so doing render his admin-
istration one to be forever remembered by his countrymen. Even
before the treaty was concluded, he began to put his plan of oper-
ations into effect; and on the eighteenth of January, 1803, he sub-
mitted to Congress a special message on the Indian question, in
whicli he incorporated a suggestion that an official expedition be
dispatched upon the same journey as the private one would have
accomplished ten years before, had it not been abandoned. Con-
gress approved the idea and made an amj^le appropriation to carry
it into effect. Lewis was then acting in the capacity of private sec-
retary to the President, and once more solicited the direction of the
enterprise. Li this he was again successful. He held at that time
the rank of captain, and having selected William Clarke as his asso-
ciate, til at gentleman also received a captain's commission.
In the instructions cb'awn up for the guidance of the party, the
President says: "The object of your mission is to explore the
Missouri River, and such principal streams of it, as, by its course
and conununicationwith the waters of the Pacific Ocean, whether
the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado, or any other river, may offer the
OVERLAND JOURNEYS TO THE PACIFIC, 185
most direct and practicable water commuuication across tlie conti-
nent, for the purposes of commerce.'" They were directed to ac-
quire as intimate a knowledge as possible of the extent and number
of Indian tribes, their manners, customs and degi'ee of civilization,
and to rej^ort fully upon the topography, the character of the soil,
the natui'al products, the animal life and minerals, as well as to as-
certain by scientific observations and inquiry as much as possible
about the climate, and to inquire especially into the fur trade and
the needs of commerce. Since Louisiana had not yet been formally
conveyed to the United States, the instructions contained a para-
gi'aph saying: " Your mission has been communicated to the min-
isters here fi'om France, Spain and Great Britain, and through them
to theii' governments; and such assurances given them as to its ob-
jects, as we trust will satisf}^ them. The country of Louisiana hav-
ing been ceded by Spain to France, the passport you have from the
minister of France, the representative of the present sovereign of
the country, will be a protection with all its subjects; and that from
the minister of England will entitle you to the friendly aid of any
traders of that allegiance with whom you may happen to meet."
The French passport was rendered needless by the receipt of the
joyful intelligence a few days before they started that Louisiana had
been formally ceded to the United States. Le^^^LS left Washington
on the fifth of July, 1808, and was joined by Clarke at Louis\ille.
Having selected the men to compose theu- party, they went into
camp near St. Louis and remained until spring. The final start
was made on the fourteenth of May, 1804, the party consisting of
Captain Meriwether Lewis, Captain AVilliam Clarke, nine young
men fi-om Kentucky, fourteen soldiers, two French Canadian water-
men, of the class called " voyageurs " among the fur traders, an in-
terpreter and hunter and a negro servant of Captain Clarke. There
were, also, a number of assistants who accompanied the party as
far as the Mandan country. The Missouri river was ascended as
far as the region occupied by the Mandan Indians, with whom they
remained all winter, learning much from their hosts of the geogra-
phy of the surrounding country as well as its native inhabitants.
While there they negotiated a treaty of peace and friendship between
the Mandans and Ricarees, between whom hostilities had existed for
a long time.
13() JIISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
The westward journey was resumed in the spring of 1805. They
still followed up the Missouri, of whose course, tributaries and the
great falls they had received very minute and accurate information
from their Mandan friends. Passing the mouth of the Yellowstone,
which name they record as being but a translation of "Roche Jaune,"
the title given it by the French-Canadian tra23pers who had already
visited it, they continued up the Missouri, passed the castellated
rocks and the great falls and cascades, ascended through the mighty
canyon, and reached the headwaters of the stream, crossed the Rocky
Mountain divide and came upon the stream variously known along
its course as "Deer Lodge," " Hellgate," " Bitterroot," "Clarke's
Fork of the Columbia" and "Fend d'Oreille." Upon this they
bestowed the name " Clarke's River," and so it should be called
fi'om its source in the Rocky Mountains to where it unites with the
main stream in British Columbia. From this river the advance
party under Clarke crossed the Bitterroot Mountains by the Lolo
trail, suffering intensely from cold and hunger, and on the twentieth
of September reached a village of Nez Perce Indians, situated on a
plain about fifteen miles fi'om the south fork of Clearwater River,
where they were received with great hospitality. This fii'st passage
of the mountains by representatives of the United States and their
warm reception l)y the Indians contrast strongly with a scene
^vitnessed by this same Lolo ti*ail seventy-two years later ^v^hen
Howard's army hotly pursued Chief Joseph and his little band of
hostile Nez iPerces, who were fleeing before the avengers from the
scene of their many bloody massacres.
The almost famished men partook of such quantities of the food
liberally provided by their savage hosts that many of them became
ill, among them being Captain Clarke, who was unable to continue
the journey until the second day. He then went to the village of
TAvisted-hair, the chief, situated on an island in the stream men-
tioned. To the river he gave the name " Koos-koos-kee," errone-
ously supposing it to be its Indian title. The probabilities are that
the Nez Perces, in trying to inform Captain Clarke that this river
flowed into a still larger one, the one variously known as " Lewis,"
" Saliaptin " or " Snake," used the words " Koots-koots-kee," mean-
ing " This is the smaller," and were understood to have meant that
as the name of the stream. The Nez Perce name is " Kaih-kaih-
OVERLAND JOURNEYS TO THE PACIFIC. 137
koosh," signifjdng " Clearwater," the title it is generally known by.
Having been united, the two parties a few days later journeyed
on down the Clearwater. Concerning their deplorable condition
and their method of traveling the joui'nal says: " Captain Lewis
and two of the men were taken very ill last evening, and to-day he
could scarcely sit on his horse, while others were obliged to be put
on horseback, and some, from extreme weakness and pain, were
forced to lie down alongside of the road. * * * The weather
was very hot and oppressive to the party, most of whom are now
complaining of sickness. Our situation, indeed, rendered it neces-
sary to husband our remaining strength, and it w^as determined to
proceed down the river in canoes. Captain Clarke, therefore, set
out with Twisted-hair, and two young men, in quest of timber
for canoes. * * * Having resolved to go down to some spot
calculated for building canoes, we set out early this morning and
proceeded five miles, and encamped on the low ground on the south,
opposite the forks of the river." The canoes being constructed, they
embarked, in the month of October, on then- journey down the Clear-
water and connecting streams, for the Pacific, lea\dng what remained
of their horses in charge of the friendly Nez Perces. They had for
some time been subsisting upon roots, fish, horse-meat and an occa-
sional deer, crow, or wolf, but having left their horses behind them,
their resort, when out of other food, now became the wolfish dogs
they purchased fi'om the Indians.
Upon reaching Snake River, which was named in honor of
Captain Le^\4s, the canoes were tiu'ned down that stream, which
they followed to the Columbia, naming the Tukannon River " Kim-
so-emim," a title derived from the Indians, and upon the Palouse
bestowing the name "Drewyer," in honor of the hunter of the
party. They then followed down the Columbia, passing a number of
rapids, and arrived at the Cascades on the twenty-first of October.
A portage was made of all their effects and a portion of the canoes,
the remainder making the perilous descent of the Cascades in safety.
The mouth of the Willamette was passed without the addition of
so large a stream being noticed. Cape Disappointment was reached
November fifteenth, and the eyes of the weary travelers were
gladdened with a sight of the great ocean which had been their goal
for more than a year. The season of winter rains having set in,
138 HISTOKY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
they were soon driven by high water from the low land on the
north bank of the stream, eleven miles above the cape, which they
had selected for theii' winter residence. They then left the Chin-
ooks, crossed the river, and built a habitation on the high land on
the south side of the stream, which they called " Fort Clatsop," in
honor of tlie Indians which inhabited that region. Here they
spent the winter, making occasional short excursions along the
coast. The departure for home was delayed with the hope that
some trading vessel might appear, from which sadly-needed supplies
could be ol)tained, but being disappointed in this they loaded their
canoes, and on March 23, 1806, took final leave of Fort Clatsop.
Before going they presented the chiefs of the Chinooks and Clatsops
with certificates of kind and hospitable treatment, and cii'culated
among the natives several papers, jDosting a copy on the wall of the
abandoned fort, which read as follows: "The object of this last is,
that through the medium of some civilized i^erson, who may see
the same, it may be made known to the world, that the party, con-
sisting of the persons whose names are hereunto annexed, and who
were sent out by the Government of the United States to explore
the interior of the continent of North America, did penetrate the
same by the way of the Missouri and Columbia rivers, to the dis-
charge of the latter into the Pacific Ocean, where they arrived on
the fourteenth day of November, 1805, and departed the twenty-
third day of March, 1806, on their retui'n to the United States by
the same route by which they had come out." To this was appended
a list of the members of the expedition. One of these copies was
handed by an Indian the following year to Captain Hall, an Ameri-
can fur trader, whose vessel, the Lydia, had entered the Columbia,
by whom it was taken to China and thence to the United States;
thus, even had the party perished on the return journey, evidence
of the completion of theu task was not wanting.
Upon taking an invoice of their possessions before starting upon
the retm-n, the}^ found that their goods available for traffic with the
Indians consisted of six blue robes, one scarlet robe, one United
States artillery hat and coat, five robes made from the national
ensign, and a few old clothes trimmed vvdth ribbon. Upon these
must they depend for purchasing provisions and horses, and for
winning the hearts of stubborn chiefs. They proceeded up the
I
OVERLAND JOURNEYS TO THE PACIFIC. 139
south bank of the stream, until they came unexpectedly upon a
large river flowing into it from the south. On an island near its
mouth, kno-svn to the early traj^pers as " Wapatoo," and now called
" Sau\de's Island," they came upon an Indian village, where they
were refused a supply of food. To impress them mth his power.
Captain Clarke entered one of their habitations and cast a few
sulphur matches into the fire. The savages were fi'ightened at the
blue flame, and looked upon the strange visitor as a great medicine
man. They implored him to extinguish the " evil fire," and brought
all the food he desired. The name of the Indian village was " Mult-
nomah," but Captain Clarke understood the name to aj^ply to the
river, of whose course he made careful inquiry. Upon the map of
this expedition the " Multnomah " is indicated as extending south-
ward and eastward into California and Nevada, and the Indians
who resided along the streams that flow fi'om southeastern Oregon
into the Snake, are represented as living on the upper branches of
the Multnomah. The true Indian name of the river and valley is
" Wallamet," which has been corrupted to " Willamette " by those
who conceived the idea that it Avas of French origin. The confusion
between Indian, French and English names in this region has
resulted in many very peculiar and ridiculous appellations.
At the mouth of the Lapage River, the stream later named
" John Day," in memory of the bold hunter of the Astor party,
who met such a tragic fate, the canoes were abandoned, and the
party proceeded up the Columbia on foot, packing their baggage
upon the backs of a few horses purchased from the natives. Cross-
ing the Umatilla, which they called " You-ma-lolam," they arrived
at the mouth of the Walla Walla on the twenty- seventh of April.
Yellept, the Walla Walla chief, was a man of unusual capacity and
power, and extended to them the most cordial and bountiful hospi-
tality they had enjoyed since leaving the abodes of civilization.
•How different would have been the reception extended them could
the old chief have gazed into the future Avith prophetic eye, and
seen his great successor, Peo-peo-mux-mux, killed wliile unjustly a
prisoner by members of the same race and tribe to which these
white guests belonged ! It is related of Yellept that in after years,
having seen the last of five noble sons perish in battle or by the
hand of disease, he called together the tribe, and throwing himself
140 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
upon the body of his last son, sternly bade them bury him with
his dead. With loud lamentations and heart-broken sobs they did
as he commanded, and buried alive the great chief they both loved
and feared. This was the man who extended his hospitalities to
Lewis and Clarke, and because of the important part the Walla
Wallas and Cayuses played in the after history of this region, the
follo^\dng account given by those gentlemen of their entertainers is
presented. Their journal says: —
Immediately upon our arrival, Yellept, who proved to be a man of much influ-
ence, not only in his own, but in the neighboring nations, collected the inhabitants
and, after having made a harangue, the purport of which was to induce the nations
to treat us hospitably, set them an example, by bringing himself an armful of wood
and a platter containing three roasted mullets. They immediately assented to one
part, at lea.st, of the recommendation, by furnishing us with an abundance of the
only sort of fuel they employ, the stems of shrubs growing in the plains. We then
purchased four dogs, on which we supped heartily, having been on short allowance
for two days past. When we were disposed to sleep, the Indians retired imme-
diately on our request, and, indeed, uniformly conducted themselves with great
propriety. These people live on roots, which are very abundant in the plains, and
catch a few salmon-trout; but at present they seem to subsist chiefly on a species of
mullet, weighing from one to three pounds. * * * Monday, twenty-eighth,
we purchased ten dogs. While this trade was carrying on by our men, Yellept
brought a fine white horse and presented him to Captain Clarke, expressing at the
same time a wish to have a kettle ; but on being informed that we had already dis-
posed of the last kettle we could spare, he said he would be content with any pres-
ent we should make in return. Captain Clarke, therefore, gave his sword, for
which the chief had before expressed a desire, adding one hundred balls, some pow-
der, and other small articles, with which he appeared perfectly satisfied. We were
now anxious to depart, and requested Yellept to lend us canoes for the purpose of
crossing the river. But he would not listen to any proposal of leaving the village.
He wished us to remain two or three days; but would not let us go to-day, for he
had already sent to invite his neighbors, the Chimnapoos (Cayuses), to come down
this evening and join his people in a dance for our amusement. We urged, in vain,
that by setting out sooner we would the earlier return with the articles they desired ;
for a day, he observed, would make but little difference. We at length mentioned
that, as there was no wind, it was now the best time to cross the river, and would
merely take the horses over and return to sleep at their village. To this he assented,
and then we crossed with our horses, and having hobbled them, returned to their
camp. Fortunately there was among these WoUawollahs a prisoner, belonging to
a tribe of iShoshonee or Snake Indians, residing to the south of the Multnomah,
and visiting occasionally the heads of the Wollawollah creek. Our Shoshonee
woman, Sucajaweah, though she belonged to a tribe near the Missouri, spoke the
same language as this prisoner, and by their means we were able to explain our-
selves to the Indians, and answer all their inquiries with respect to ourselves and
the object of our journey. Our conversation inspired them with much confidence,
and they soon brought several sick persons for whom they requested our assistance.
We splintered tiie broken arm of one, gave some relief to another, whose knee was
contracted by rheumatism, and administered what we thought beneficial for ulcers
and eruptions of the skin, on various parts of the body, which are very common
disorders among them. But our most valuable medicine was eye-water, which we
OVERLAND JOURNEYS TO THE PACIFIC. 141
distributed, and which, indeed, they required very much ; the complaint of the
eyes, occasioned by living on the water, and increased by the fine sand of the plains,
being now universal. A little before sunset, the Chimnapoos, amounting to one
hundred men and a few women, came to the village, and joining the WollawoUahs,
who were about the same number of men, formed themselves in a circle round our
camp, and waited very patiently till our men were disposed to dance, which they
did for about an hour, to the tune of the violin. They then requested to see the
Indians dance. With this they readily complied, and the whole assemblage,
amounting, with the women and children of the village, to several hundred, stood
up, and sang and danced at the same time. The exercise was not, indeed, very
graceful, for the greater part of them were formed into a solid column, round a kind
of hollow square, stood on the same place, and merely jumped up at intervals, to
keep time to the music. Some, however, of the more active warriors entered the
square and danced round it sidewise, and some of our men joined in the dance, to
the great satisfaction of the Indians. The dance continued till ten o'clock the next
morning. In the course of the day we gave small medals to two inferior chiefs,
each of whom made us a present of a fine horse. We were in a poor condition to
make an adequate acknowledgement for this kindness, but gave several articles,
among which was a pistol, with some hundred rounds of ammunition. We have,
indeed, been treated by these people with an unusual degree of kindness and civility.
* * * We may, indeed, justly affirm that of all the Indians whom we have
met since leaving the United States, the WollawoUahs were the most hospitable,
honest and sincere.
Bidding adieu to these hospitable people, they left the Colum-
bia oil the twenty-ninth of April and followed eastward what is*
known as the " Nez Perce Trail." They went up the Touchet,
called by them " White Stallion," because of the present Yellept
had made to Captain Clarke, the Patet and Pataha and do^\Ti the
Alpowa to Snake river, which they crossed and followed up the
north side of Clearwater until they reached the village of Twisted-
hair, where had been left their horses the fall before. The Lolo
trail was not yet fi^ee fi'om snow, and for six weeks they resided
among the Nez Perces, a tribe closely woven into the history of
this region. Of them and the intercoiu'se held with them the fall
before, the journal says: —
The Chopunnish, or Pierce-nosed, nation, who reside on the Kooskooske and
Lewis' Rivers, are in person stout, portly, well-looking men ; the women are small,
with good features, and generally handsome, though the complexion of both sexes
is darker than that of the Tushepaws. In dress they resemble that nation, being
fond of displaying their ornaments. The buffiilo or elk skin robe decorated with
beads, sea-shells (chiefly mother-of-pearl), attached to an otter-skin collar, and hung
in the hair, which falls in front in two queues ; feathers, paint of different kinds
(principally white, green and light blue), all of which they find in their own
country ; these are the chief ornaments they use. In winter they wear a short shirt
of dressed skins, long painted leggings and moccasins, and a plait of twisted grass
around the neck, The dress of the women is more simple, consisting of a long shirt
of argalia or ibex skin, reaching down to the ankles without a girdle ; to this are
tied little pieces of brass and shells, and other small articles ; but the head is not at
142 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
all ornamented. The dress of the female is, Indeed, more modest, and more studi-
ously so, than any we have observed, though the other sex is careless of the inde-
licacy of exposure. The Chopunnish have very few amusements, for their life is
painful and laborious; and all their exertions are necessary to earn even their pre-
carious subsistence. During the summer and autumn they are busily occupied in
ti.>^hing for salmon, and collecting their winter store of roots. In the winter they
hunt the deer on snow-shoes over the plains, and towards spring cross the moun-
tains to the ]Missouri, for the purpose of trafflcing for buffalo robes. The incon-
veniences of that comfortless life are increased by frequent encounters with their
enemies from the west, who drive them over the mountains with the loss of their
horses, and sometimes the lives of many of the nation. Though originally the
same people, their dialect varies very percei^tibly from that of the Tushepaws ;
their treatment of us differed much from the kind and disinterested services of the
Shoshonees (Snakes) ; they are indeed selfish and avaricious; they part very reluc-
tantly with every article of food or clothing ; and while they expect a recompense
for every service, however small, do not concern themselves about reciprocating
any presents we may give them. They are generally healthy — the only disorders,
which we have had occasion to remark, being of a scrofulous kind, and for these,
as well as for the amusement of those who are in good health, hot and cold bathing
is very commonly used. The soil of these prairies is of a light yellow clay, inter-
mixed with small, smooth grass; it is barren, and produces little more than a
bearded grass about three inches high, and a prickly pear, of which we now found
three species.
It is \'ei-y evident that these gentlemen were not acquainted with
tile attrilnites of the succulent bunch grass, nor of the soil, for those
prairies constitute the now celebrated wheat lands of Eastern Ore-
gon and Washington and Northern Idaho.
They made an unsuccessful attempt to cross the Bitterroot
Mountains on the fifteenth of June, but found the trails blocked
with snow. On the thii-tieth, however, they safely crossed. On
the fourth of July it was decided to pursue two routes for a dis-
tance; accordingly. Captain Lewis, with a portion of the party,
crossed the Rocky Mountains to the Missouri, and folloA\ ed down
the main stream, exploring the larger tril)utaries and learning much
of the geography of Montana. With the remainder of the party
Clarke crossed to the Yellowstone, and descended that stream to
its mouth, uniting again with Captain Lewis some distance below
that point on the twelfth of August. There stands to the present
day on the south bank of the Yellowstone, between the cities of
Miles City and Billings, a monument to commemorate the visit of
this expedition. It is known as " Pompey's Pillar," and consists of
a detached Ijody of yellow sandstone, which rises abruptly on three
sides to the height of four hundi^ed feet. On the north side, at a
place which can be reached by clambering over the heavy blocks
OVERLAND JOURNEYS TO THE PACIFIC. 143
of sandstone broken down from the body of the cliff, in a place
sheltered from the elements by an overhanging wall of rock, the
leader carved his autograph ; and the characters, " William Clarke,
July 25, 1806,'' can be still distinctly traced. When again united,
the party continued their joiu'ney down the Missouri, and reached
St. Louis September 25, 1806, having been absent nearly two and
one -half years.
The return of Lewis and Clarke was the cause of great rejoicing
in the United States. Mr. Jefferson says: "Never did a similar
event excite more joy throughout the United States. The humblest
of its citizens had taken a lively interest in the issue of this journey,
and looked forward with impatience to the information it would
furnish. Their anxieties, too, for the safety of the corps had been
kept in a state of excitement by lugubrious rumors, circulated from
tune to time on uncertain authorities, and uncontradicted by letters,
or other direct information, fi'om the time they had left tlie Mandan
towns, on their ascent up the river in April of the preceding year,
1805, until their actual return to St. Louis." Captain Lewis was,
soon after his return, appointed Governor of Louisiana, with which
his journey had rendered him more familiar than any other man
except his associate; and Captain Clarke was appointed General of
Militia of the same Territory, and agent for Indian affairs in that
vast region he had explored. During a period of temporary mental
derangement, Captain Lewis died by his own hand, in September,
1809, before he had fully completed his narrative of the journey.
The history of the expedition was prepared from his manuscript
under the direction of Captain Clarke, and was first published in
1814. The general details, however, were spread throughout the
country immediately upon their retm-n, especially on the fi'ontier.
During their absence other exploring parties were traversing Louis-
iana in various directions in search of information for the govern-
ment. Lieutenant Pike ascended the Mississippi to its headwaters
in 1805, and the following year journeyed southwestward from the
mouth of the Missouri to the sources of the Arkansas, Red and
Rio Bravo del 'Norte. At the same time Dunbar, Hunter and
Sibley explored Red River and its companion streams. These
explorations served to greatly stimulate the fur trade carried on
144 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
from St. Louis and Mackinaw, as well as to strengthen the govern-
ment in its purpose of adhering to its right to Louisiana.
When Great Britain received the official notification mentioned
])y President Jefferson in his letter of instructions to Captain Lewis,
which was (piickly followed by intelligence that the region to which
it referred had l)een ceded by France to the United States, much
anxiety was felt by the Government and such -of its subjects as were
personally interested in the country under consideration. Espec-
ially were the Northwest and Hudson's Bay Companies anxious for
the future of their interests in that region, more particularly the
former, whose hunters were operating further south and west than
those of the rival company. The French claim to Louisiana,
founded solely upon technical grounds, had not been a source of
much uneasiness; but now that it had been transferred to a nation
Ijoth able and anxious to make an effort to perfect the title by re-
ducing the country to actual possession, the matter presented an en-
tirely different aspect. Naturally, the technical title was not recog-
nized in its entirety ; that is, there was a vast region lying north of
the forty-second parallel and west of the Rocky Mountains, known
a few years later as " Oregon," and embracing the watershed of the
Columbia River, which might be held by the United States under
the Louisiana title and the discovery right of Captain Gray, pro-
vided these claims were perfected by actual occupation ; similar oc-
cupation might entitle Great Britain to its possession as a perfec-
tion of her technical title, claimed by discovery through Captain
Francis Drake, and exploration by Captain Cook, Captain Vancou-
ver and Alexander Mackenzie. Both nations having color of title,
possession became the decisive issue. The Northwest Company im-
mediately sent a party to establish trading posts on the Columbia,
under command of a trusted agent named Laroque. He started in
1804, but failed to progress farther than the Mandan country, and
the Columbia stations were not established. Simon Fraser, another
agent of the company, left Fort Chipewyan in 1805, and followed
the route pursued formerly by Mackenzie until he reached Fraser
River. At Fraser Lake, a few miles west of the point where the
river turns to the southward, he established a trading post, bestow-
ing the name " New Caledonia " upon that region. As the Fraser
was then considered identical with the Columbia, it was supposed
OVERLAND JOURNEYS TO THE PACIFIC. 145
that this post was on the great stream for the possession of which
England and America were contending. Though this idea was
subsequently learned to be erroneous, the fact remained true that
the post was the first establishment made by the subjects of either
nation west of the Rocky Mountains. The Americans were not far
behind, for the Missouri Fur Company was organized in 1808, with
headquarters at St. L6uis. The same year trading posts were es-
tablished on the affluents of the Mississippi and Missouri, and one
of the agents of the company, named Henry, crossed the Rocky
Mountains, and founded Fort Henry, on the headwaters of Lewis,
or Snake, River, the first American establishment, and, as it proved,
the first of any kind on a tril^utary of the Columbia. The next was
made nearer the mouth of the stream in 1810, by an American whose
name has been variously given by superficial historians as " Smith,"
" T. Winship " and " Nathaniel AVinship," none of which are cor-
rect. Early in 1809 a partnership was formed in Boston between
Abiel Winship, Jonathan Winshij), Nathan Winship, Benjamin
P. Homer and a few others, for the purpose of founding a settle-
ment on the Columbia as a base of trading operations, the settle-
ment«to be a permanent one. With everything necessary to the suc-
cess of the project, Nathan Winship sailed in the Albatross in July,
William Smith being his chief mate. He carried written instruc-
tions, by which it appears that the projectors of the enterprise were
wise enough to believe that Indian character was the same on the
Pacific as it had been found to be on the Atlantic. It was the de-
sign to buy the land from the natives; to erect a two -story log
house with port-holes for cannon and loop-holes for rifles; the
second story to be the arsenal where all the arms and ammunition
were to be stored, and to which no Indian was to be admitted upon
any consideration, entrance to be effected by means of a trap door
and ladder ; agricultm-e to be carried on under the guns of the fort,
which was always to be guarded by a sufficient force. William A.
Gale kept a journal, which gives the details of the expedition.
When the Albatross reached the Sandwich Islands, Winship found a
letter there from his brother Jonathan, who was in command of the
trading vessel OCain^ advising him to make haste, as the Russians
had designs on the Columbia. It was the twenty-sixth of May, 1810,
that the Albatross entered the river and began sounding it to locate
146 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
the channel, gradually ascending the stream. On the iii'st of June
AVinship and Smith selected a point on the south bank of the stream
some forty miles above its mouth, which they called "Oak Point,"
because they observed there four oak trees, the first they had seen
since entering the river. The place now known as " Oak Point " is
on the opposite side of the river, a fact which has led some wi'iters
into the error of stating that this first Ammcan settlement on the
Columbia was made in Washington Territory. They at once began
prej^arations in accordance with their plans, such as hewing logs for
the fort and clearing a patch of the fertile tract for a garden ; but
they were soon initiated into the mysteries of the "June Eise," for
the annual freshets of that season covered their building site and
garden patch to the depth of several feet long before they had the
fort erected. A patch of higher ground five hundred yards further
down the stream was selected, and the logs floated down to it, but
as the natives had begun to exhibit symptoms of hostility, Winship
decided to abandon the effort. On the seventeenth of June he
ih'opped down to the mouth of the river, learning on the way that
only his vigilance had prevented the capture of his vessel by the
Chinooks. He then sailed on a trading voyage, expecting to return
the next year and found a settlement, but in this he was forestalled
by the Astor party. The Albatross had quite a string of adven-
tures before again reaching Boston, being seized once on the Cali-
fornia coast, and once blockaded by British men of war at the
Hawaiian Islands. Thus were the first two settlements on the river
made by Americans, and it will be seen that the third and most
important was also made by them.
CHAPTER X.
I
ASTORIA AND THE JOINT OCCUPATION TREATY.
The Pacific Fur Trade at the Beginning of the Present Century — Ameri-
■ cans in the Lead — Their Plan of Operations — Russia Complains of
the Sale of Fire-Arms to the Indians — John Jacoh Astor^s Plans —
The Pacific Fur Company Organized — Astor^s Alien Partners — The
'■'-Tonquin''^ Sails from New York — Dissensions on the Voyage — Dan-
gers of the Columbia Bar — Astoria Founded — Sad Fate of the ^'■Ton-
quin " and Her Crew — Appearance at Astoria of an Agent of the
Northwest Company — Fort OMnagan — Launch of the '■'■ Dolly'''' —
Suferings of Wilson Price Runfs Party — Operations along the
Columbia — Astoria Sold to the Northioest Company — Captured by
the English and Named ^'Fort George^' — Unsuccessful Efforts of
Mr. Astor to Regain Possession — Negotiations under the Treaty of
Ghent — Conflicting Claims to^ Oregon Advanced by England and the
United States — Technical Surrender of Fort George — Joint Occu-
pation Agreed Upon — The Florida Treaty.
DURING the first ten years of the present century, Americans
took the lead in the fishing and fur trade of the Pacific, though
the vessels of other nations were not an unfrequent sight to the
waters of our coast. The reasons for this were simple. Russians
did not enjoy the privilege of entering the few Chinese ports open
to the commerce of more favored nations, and therefore did their
trading by land fi-om Kamtchatka, as previously described; the
English independent traders were excluded from the Pacific by the
monopoly grants of the East India Company and South Sea Com-
pany. Naturally this usurpation of the fur trade by Americans
was distasteful to rival nations, and especially to the English, who
did not then, and, in fact, seldom do now, recognize the enterprise
and commercial spirit of the "Yankees" as commendable, or admit
148 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
their superiority, or even equality, in anything. Though often the
representatives of wealthy and long- established business houses,
these traders were classed by them as "adventurers," and very
slightingly spoken of, while their skill as navigators and judgment
as traders were not recognized as deserving of praise. Archibald
Campbell gives the following contemptuous review of the "Yan-
kee" method of conducting the fur trade :^ —
These adventurers set out on the voyage with a few trinkets of very little value.
In the Southern Pacific, they pick up a few seal skins, and perhaps a few butts of
oil; at the Gallipagos, they lay in turtle, of which they preserve the shells; at Val-
paraiso, they raise a few dollars in exchange for European articles ; at Nootka, and
other parts of the Northwest Coast, they traffic with the natives for furs, which, when
winter commences, they carry to the Sandwich Islands, to dry and preserve from
vermin; here they leave their own people to take care of them, and, in the spring,
embark, in lieu, the natives of the islands, to assist in navigating to the Northwest
Coast in search of more skins. The remainder of tlie cargo is then made up of
sandal, which grows abundantly in the woods of Atooi and Owyhee (Hawaii), of
tortoise shells, shark's fins, and pearls of an inferior kind, all of which are accept-
able in the Chinese market ; and with these and their dollars they purchase cargoes
of teas, silks and nankins, and thus complete their voyage in the course of two or
three years.
With the exception of the assertion that their outward cargo
consisted solely of a " few trinkets," this may be called a correct
statement of the Yankee method, and, so far fi'om proving them to
have been mere adventurers, shows that their voyages were con-
ducted wdth a clear idea of the nature of the Chinese trade and the
only successful method of conducting it. Had the traders of rival
nations shown the same good judgment and managed their enter-
prises in the same systematic manner, they would have met with a
greater measure of success. The vessels were generally large ones,
dispatched by wealthy merchants, and besides the trinkets, carried
\'alual)le cargoes of English and American manufactured goods,
with which they supplied the Russian and Spanish settlements on
the Coast. The Russians in particular were dependent upon the
American traders for ammunition, sugar, spirits, and manufactured
articles generally. The " trinkets " spoken of were used in the
Indian trade, as has been the custom from time immemorial with
civilized nations in their dealings with inferior races. Commer-
cially of little value, they were highly prized by the natives, who
would give for them more furs than they would offer for some object
worth ten times the amount, but which did not strike their fancy,
ASTORIA AND THE JOINT OCCUPATION TREATY, 149
or was of no use to them in their manner of living. This method
of trading with the Indians was practiced as much by the Hudson's
Bay Company and Northwest Company as by the Americans; nor
was it confined to English-speaking nations, for the Russians also
bartered beads and cheap ornaments for valuable furs. Such arti-
cles have always been considered a " valuable consideration " by
every nation in dealing with uncivilized races.
Certain of these traders were guilty of improper and impolitic
conduct, however, and this was the chief cause of bringing them
into disrepute. They used whisky and fire-arms as articles of mer-
chandise, reaping present profit, but sowing the seeds of decay w^hich
have swept away the native inhabitants of the Coast likes flies by
an October fi'ost. It would, at the first glance, seem that the pos-
session of fire-arms by the Indians would enable them to hunt more
successfully, and thus, by rendering the supply of furs more abun-
dant, add to the profit of the traders; but there was another face to
the matter. Irving says: "In this way several fierce tribes in the
vicinity of the Russian posts, or mthin range of theii* trading excui'-
sions, were furnished with deadly means of warfare, and rendered
troublesome and dangerous neighbors." The Russians were ex-
tremely harsh and illilieral in their dealings with the aborigines,
winning their hostility instead of good will, and they naturally
objected to the placing of the defrauded tribes on an equality with
themselves in the matter of weapons of war. Complaint was made
by the Russian Government to the State Department; but as the
American traders were violating no law or treaty, the Grovernment
could not interfere directly. It did, however, use its influence to
effect a remedy. John Jacob Astor was then the central figure of
the American fur trade, being engaged extensively in that business
in the region of the great lakes and headwaters of the Mississippi,
and was the leading merchant of New York City. His attention
was called to the matter and he soon devised an effectual remedy.
His idea was to concentrate the trade in the hands of a company
which would conduct it properly, and one of the means of doing
this was to supply the Russian posts by contract, and thus cut off
one of the most profitable elements of the Pacific trade from the
independent traders. His plan was to establish a permanent post
at the mouth of the Columbia, which would be the headquarters for
150 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
a large trade with the interior and along the coast, and to supply
this post and the Russian settlements by means of a vessel sent an-
nually from New York, which should also convey the furs to China
and take home from there a cargo of silk, tea, etc. Tlie independ-
ent traders would thus be superseded by a company which would
establish posts along the Columbia, a thing earnestly desired by the
Government, and the cause of irritation to Russia would be removed.
The scheme was heartily endorsed by the President and Cabinet.
As has been shown. President Jefferson had been for years a warm
advocate of American supremacy along the Columbia, and in a let-
ter written to Mr. Astor in later years, said of his opinion at that
time: "I considered, as a great public acquisition, the commence-
ment of a settlement in that part of the western coast of America,
and looked forward with gratification to the time Avhen its descend-
ants had spread themselves through the whole length of the coast,
covering it with free and independent Americans, unconnected with
us but by the ties of blood and interest, and enjoying like us the
rights of self-government." How vastly grander is the actual than
even this grand conception of one of the greatest statesmen America
has produced!
Mr. Astor organized the Pacific Fur Company, himself supply-
ing the capital and owning a half interest. To manage operations
in the field, he selected competent men of much experience in the
fur trade, and to bind them to his interests he gave them the other
half share in the enterprise, divided in equal proportions. Wisdom
and prudence marked every step taken, with the exception of the
selection of partners. Among these were several men who had
formerly belonged to, or were employed by, the Northwest Com-
pany. They were of alien birth and sympathies. When they
united with Mr. Astor it was simply as a commercial venture, by
wdiich they hoped to better themselves financially. His purpose of
founding an American settlement on the Columbia, so that the
United States might dominate this region, was not in harmony with
their national sentiments. They were British in thought and sym-
jiathy, even as partners in an American enterprise, and could not
be relied upon to support the interests of the United States when
they came in conflict in the disputed territory with those of Great
Britain, as represented by the great company in which they had
ASTORIA AND THE JOINT OCCUPATION TREATY. 151
received their training and to which they were attached by the
strongest ties which time and association can weave. In an enter-
prise so purely American and of such deep political significance,
Washington's injunction to "Put none but Americans on guard"
should have been wisely heeded ; and the failure so to do was most
disastrous in its consequences. These men were Alexander McKay
(father of the well known Tom. McKay and grandfather of Dr.
William C. McKay, of Pendleton, Oregon ), who had accompanied
Mackenzie on both of his great journeys, Duncan McDougal, David
and Robert Stuart, and Donald McKenzie. So far from undertak-
ing to Americanize themselves, these gentlemen took the precaution
before leaving Canada to provide themselves with proofs of theii'
British citizenship, to be used for their protection in case of future
difficulties between the two nations. Had this been known to Mr.
Astor it would doubtless have put a sudden termination to their
connection with the enter]3rise. Only one American, Wilson Price
Hunt, of New Jersey, was an interested partner from the first, and
to him was entrusted the management of the enterprise on the
Pacific Coast.
The first movement was made on the second of August, 1810,
when the ship Tonquiii sailed from New York for the mouth of
the Columbia, commanded by Captain Jonathan Thorn, a Lieuten-
ant of the United States Navy, on leave of absence. She mounted
ten guns, had a crew of twenty men, and carried a large cargo of
supplies for the company, and merchandise for trading with the
natives, as well as implements and seeds for cultivating the soil,
and the fame of a small schooner for use in trading along the coast.
She carried, as passengers, McKay, McDougal, the two Stuarts,
twelve clerks (among them Tom McKay), several artisans, and
thu'teen Canadian voyageurs. The voyage was uneventful, except
as regards the dissensions that arose between the American Captain
and the Scotch partners. Captain Thorn was a strict disciplinarian.
He possessed great respect for himself as an officer of the Ameri-
can Navy, and had inherited from Revolutionary sires a lasting
contempt for " Britishers." He considered the authority of a com-
mander on the deck of his vessel as supreme, even to the point of
autocracy, and he made the Scotchmen understand this idea the first
time they undertook to exercise any of the authority they conceived
152 HISTOKY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
themselves to be possessed of as partners in the company. He
informed them that when they were on shore they could do as they
pleased, but when they were on board of his vessel they must do as
he pleased or be put in irons. He held himself responsible in his
management of the Tonqtcin solely to Mr. Astor, from whom he had
received his instructions, and would brook no interference what-
ever from the lesser partners, whom he considered as simply pas-
sengers. It may well be imagined that when the ship reached
the Columbia Bar, on the twenty-second of the following March,
after a voyage of nearly eight months, the snubbed partners were
delighted at the prospect of soon setting foot on shore, where they
could exercise a little of that authority which had been so com-
pletely bottled up; while Captain Thorn was equally pleased to be
rid of his passengers, who had been a continual source of annoy-
ance during the voyage.
When the Tonquin arrived off the bar the weather was stormy
and the breakers rolled high. He feared to take his vessel across
an unknown bar in such a rough sea. This fear was not a personal
one, for he was as brave as he was headstrong, but was solely in
reference to the safety of his vessel, to secure which he would have
forfeited his own life and those of his entire crew, had it been nec-
essary to do so. He accordingly ordered Mr. Fox, the first mate,
to take a whale boat, with a crew of one seaman and three Cana-
dians, and explore the channel. Although it was almost certain
death to make the attempt, Mr. Fox expressed a wdllingness to
undertake it if he were provided with a crew of seamen instead of
the green Canadians; but the willful captain insisted upon the exe-
cution of his order as originally given. The surging billows soon
engulfed the boat and its brave crew, and they were seen no more.
The next day another boat was sent on the same errand, and was
swept out to sea by the tide and current, and only one of its occu-
pants finally reached land in safety. Just as darkness closed down
upon the scene, on the second day, the Tonquin succeeded in cross-
ing, and anchored just within the bar, where the wind and ebbing
tide threatened to sweep her from her precarious hold upon the
sands and swamp her amid the rolling breakers. The night was an
anxious and distressful one. Ir\dng says: " The wind whistled, the
sea roared, the gloom was only broken by the ghastly glare of the
ASTORIA AND THE JOINT OCCUPATION TREATY. 153
foaming breakers, the minds of the seamen were full of dreary
apprehensions, and some of them fancied they heard the cries of
their lost comrades mingling with the uproar of the elements." In
the morning the Tonquin passed safely in and came to anchor in a
good harbor.
On the twelfth of April the partners began the erection of a fort
on the south side of the river, on a point which Lieutenant Brough-
ton had named " Point George." This was christened " Astoria,"
in honor of the founder and chief j)i'onioter of the enterprise, a
name now borne by a thriving commercial city, which marks the
spot where America first planted her foot squarely upon the dis-
puted territory of Oregon. After much delay and continued wrang-
ling over their respective authority, a store -house w^as built and the
supplies landed; and on the fifth of June, before the fort was com-
pleted. Captain Thorn sailed northward to engage in trade with the
Indians, and to open that friendly communication ^^dth the Russian
settlements which formed such an important feature of Mr. Astor's
plan. With him went Alexander McKay, the only partner who
had possessed the good sense to refrain fi-om wrangling wdth the
irascible captain.
He came to anchor in one of the harbors on the west coast of
Vancouver Island, and Mr. McKay went ashore. During his ab-
sence the vessel was surrounded by a host of savages in their ca-
noes, who soon swarmed upon the decks. They were eager to trade,
but had e^-idently had considerable experience in dealing with the
whites and were well posted upon the value of their furs, for they
resolutely demanded a higher price than Captain Thorn was will-
ing to pay. Provoked beyond measure at their stubbornness, Thorn
refused to deal with them, w^hereupon they became exceedingly inso-
lent. The Captain at last completely lost his temper, and seizing
the old chief, Nookamis, who was following him about and taunting
him with his stinginess, rubbed in his face an otter skin he had
been endeavoring to sell. He then ordered the whole band to leave
the ship, and added blows to enforce his command. The tragic
ending of this adventure is thus related by Ir\dng : —
When Mr. McKay returned on board, the interpreter related what had passed,
and begged him to prevail upon the Captain to make sail, as, from his knowledge
of the temper and pride of the people of the place, he was sure they would resent
the indignity offered to one of their chiefs. Mr. McKay, who himself possessed
154 HISTOKY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
some experience of Indian character, went to the Captain, who was still pacing the
deck in moody humor, represented the danger to which his hasty act had exposed
the vessel, and urged upon him to weigh anchor. The Captain made light of his
counsels, and pointed to his cannon and fire-arms as a sufHcient safeguard against
naked savages. Further remonstrance only provoked taunting replies and sharp
altercations. The day passed away without anj^ signs of hostility, and at night the
Captain retired, as usual, to his cabin, taking no more than usual precautions. On
the following morning, at daybreak, while the Captain and Mr. McKay were yet
asleep, a canoe came alongside in which were twenty Indians, commanded by
young Shewish. They were unarmed, their aspect and demeanor friendly, and
they held up otter skins, and made signs indicative of a wish to trade. The caution
enjoined by Mr. Astor in respect to the admission of Indians on board of the
ship, had been neglected for some time past, and the officer of the watch, perceiv-
ing those in the canoes to be without weapons, and having received no orders to
the contrary, readilj' permitted them to mount the deck. Another canoe soon suc-
ceeded, the crew of which was likewise admitted. In a little while other canoes
came off, and Indians were soon clambering into the vessel on all sides.
The officer of the watch now felt alarmed, and called to Captain Thorn and Mr.
McKay. By the time they came on deck, it was thronged with Indians. The
interpreter noticed to Mr. McKay that many of the natives wore short mantles of
skins, and intimated a susj^icion that they were secretly armed. Mr. McKay
urged the Captain to clear the ship and get under way. He again made light of
the advice ; but the augmented swarm of canoes about the ship, and the numbers
still putting off from the shore, at length awakened his distrust, and he ordered
some of the crew to weigh anchor, while some were sent aloft to make sail. The
Indians now oflTered to trade with the Captain on his own terms, prompted,
apparently, by the approaching departure of the ship. Accordingly, a hurried
trade was commenced. The main articles sought by the savages in barter, were
knives; as fast as some were supplied thej' moved off" and others succeeded. By
degrees they were thus distributed about the deck, and all with weapons. The an-
chor was now nearlj' up, the sails were loose, and the Caj^tain, in a loud and pre-
emptory tone, ordered the ship to be cleared. In an instant a signal yell was given ;
it was echoed on every side, knives and war clubs were brandished in every direc-
tion, and the savages rushed upon their marked victims.
The first that fell was Mr. Lewis, the ship's clerk. He was leaning, with folded
arms, over a bale of blankets, engaged in bargaining, when he received a deadly
stab in the back, and fell down the companionway. Mr. McKay, who was seated on
the taffrail, sprang to his feet, but was instantly knocked down with a war-club
and flung backwards into the sea, where he was dispatched by the women in the
canoes. In the meantime, Captain Thorn made desperate fight against fearful
odds. He was a powerful as well as resolute man, but he came upon deck without
weapons. Shewish, the young chief, singled him out as his peculiar prey, and
rushed upon him at the first outbreak. The Captain had barely time to draw a
clasp-knife, with one blow of which he laid the young savage dead at his feet. Sev-
eral of the stoutest followers of Shewish now set upon him. He defended himself
vigorously, dealing crippling blows to right and left, and strewing the quarterdeck
with the slain and wounded. His object was to fight his way to the cabin, where
there were fire-arms ; but he was hemmed in with foes, covered with wounds, and
faint with loss of blood. For an instant he leaned upon the tiller wheel, when a
blow from behind, with a war-club, felled him to the deck, where he was dis-
patched with knives and thrown overboard.
While this was transacting upon the quarterdeck, a chance medley was going
on throughout the ship. The crew fought desperately with knives, handspikes
ASTORIA AND THE JOINT OCCUPATION TREATY. 155
and whatever weapons they could seize upon in the moment of surprise. They
were soon, however, overpowered by numbers and mercilessly butchered. As to
the seven who had been sent aloft to make sail, they contemplated with horror the
carnage that was going on below. Being destitute of weapons, they let themselves
down by the running rigging, in hopes of getting between decks. One fell in the
attempt, and was instantly dispatched ; another received a death-blow in the back
as he was descending ; a third, Stejihen Weeks, the armorer, was mortally wounded
as he was getting down the hatchway. The remaining four made good their re-
treat into the cabin, where they found Mr. Lewis still alive, though mortally
wounded. Barricading the cabin door, they broke holes through the companion-
way, and, with muskets and anmiunition which were at hand, opened a brisk fire
that soon cleared the deck. Thus far the Indian interpreter, from whom these
particulars are derived, had been an eye-witness of the deadlj^ confiiet. He had
taken no part in it and had been spared by the natives as being of their race. In
the confusion of the moment he took refuge with the rest, in the canoes. The sur-
vivors of the crew now sallied forth and discharged some of the deck guns, which
did great execution among the canoes and drove all the savages to shore.
For the remainder of the day no one ventured to put off to the ship, deterred by
the effects of the fire-arms. The night passed away without any further attempt on
the part of the natives. When day dawned the Tonquin still lay at anchor in the
bay, her sails all loose and flapping in the wind, and no one apparently on board of
her. After a time, some of the canoes ventured forth to reconnoitre, taking with
them the interpreter. They paddled about her, keeping cautiously at a distance,
but growing more and more emboldened at seeing her quiet and lifeless. One man
at length made his appearance on the deck and was recognized by the interpreter
as Mr. Lewis. He made friendly signs and invited them on board. It was long
before they ventured to comply. Those who mounted the deck met with no oppo-
sition ; no one was to be seen on board, for Mr. Lewis, after inviting them, had dis-
appeared. Other canoes now pressed forward to board the prize ; the decks were
soon crowded and the sides covered with clambering savages, all intent on plunder.
In the midst of their eagerness and exultation, the ship blew up with a tremendous
explosion. Arms, legs and mutilated bodies were blown into the air, and dreadful
havoc was made in the surrounding canoes. The interpreter was in the main
chains at the time of the explosion, and was thrown unhurt into the water, where
he succeeded in getting into one of the canoes. According to his statement the bay
presented an awful spectacle after the catastrophe. The ship had disappeared, but
the bay was covered with fragments of the wreck, with shattered canoes, and
Indians swimming for their lives or struggling in the agonies of death ; while those
who had escaped the danger remained aghast and stupified, or made with frantic
panic for the shore. Upwards of a hundred savages were destroyed by the explo-
sion, many more were shockingly mutilated, and for days afterwards the limbs and
bodies of the slain were thrown upon the beach.
The inhabitants of Neweetee were overwhelmed with consternation at this
astounding calamity which had burst upon ther^ in the very moment of triumph.
The warriors sat mute and mournful, while the women filled the air with loud lam-
entations. Their weeping and wailing, however, was suddenly changed into yells
of fury at the sight of four unfortunate white men brought captive into the village.
They had been driven on shore in one of the ship's boats, and taken at some dis-
tance along the coast. The interpreter was permitted to converse wath them. They
proved to be the four brave fellows who had made such desperate defense from the
cabin. The interpreter gathered from them some of the particulars already related.
They told him further that, after they had beaten off the enemy, and cleared
the ship, Lewis advised that they should slip the cable and endeavor to get to sea.
156 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
They declined to take his advice, alleging that the wind set too strongly into the
bay, and would drive them on shore. They resolved, as soon as it was dark, to put
off quietly in the ship's boat, which they would be able to do unperceived, and to
coast along back to Astoria. They put their resolution into effect ; but Lewis re-
fused to accompany them, being disabled by his wound, hopeless of escape and
determined on a terrible revenge. On the voyage out he had frequently expressed
a presentiment that he should die by his own hands— thinking it highly probable
that he should be engaged in some contests with the natives, and being resolved, in
case of extremity, to commit suicide rather than be made a prisoner. He now de-
clared his intention to remain on the ship until daylight, to decoy as many of the
savages on board as possible, then to set fire to the powder magazine and terminate
his life by a single act of vengeance. How well he succeeded has been shown.
His companions bade him a melancholy adieu and set off on their precarious expe-
dition. They strove with might and main to got out of the bay, but found it im-
possible to weather a point of land, and were at length compelled to take shelter
in a small cove, where they hoped to remain concealed until the wind should be
more favorable. Exhausted by fatigue and watching, they fell into a sound sleep,
and in that state were surprised by the savages. Better had it been for those un-
fortunate men had they remained with Lewis and shared his heroic death ; as it
was, they perished in a more painful and protracted manner, being sacrificed by
the natives to the manes of their friends with all the lingering tortures of savage
cruelty. Some time after their death the interpreter, who had remained a kind of
prisoner at large, effected his escape and brought the tragical tidings to Astoria.
AVhile this sad tragedy was being enacted, affairs progressed
rapidly at Astoria. The fort was completed and ever}i;hing w^as
placed in readiness for an opening of the expected large trade with
the natives of the Colnmbia. On the fifteenth of July a canoe,
manned by nine white men, was observed descending the river, and
when they landed at the fort they were found to be a party of em-
ployees of the powerful Northwest Company, headed by David
Thompson, a partner in that great organization. He had been dis-
patched fi'oin Montreal the year before, for the purpose of taking
possession of the mouth of the Columbia before the Astor party
should arrive. He had experienced much hardship, disappointment
and delay ; had been deserted by nearly all his party, and now, with
but a few faithful ones, he arrived too late to accomplish his mis-
sion. The Americans were in possession. The Northwest Com-
pany held a warm place in McDougal's heart, and as that gentle-
man was in charge at Astoria, Thompson received a cordial wel-
come, and was bountifiill}^ supplied with provisions and necessaries
for his return journey, notwithstanding the fact that he was but a
spy upon his hosts. "When he set out upon his return, eight days
later, he was entrusted with a letter to Mr. Astor, giving the j^resi-
dent of the company information of the safe arrival of the Tonquin^
ASTOEIA AND THE JOINT OCCUPATION TREATY. 157
the founding of Astoria, and the absence of the vessel upon a trad-
ing voyage to the north, for the destruction of the ship and tragic
death of the crew were as yet unknown at the fort. AVith Thomp-
son went David Stuart, at the head of a party of nine men, with
instructions to establish a post on the Upper Columbia. This he
accomplished by founding Fort Okinagan, near the mouth of the
Okinagan Eiver. In the fall Stuart sent half his men back to
Astoria, not having sufficient provisions to subsist them all through
the winter. The schooner whose frame had been brought out in
the Tonquin^ was constructed during the summer, and was launched
on the second of October, receiving the name of Dolly. She was the
third craft constructed on the upper coast, and the first built along
the Columbia River. AA^iile these steps were being taken by the
party which reached Astoria by sea, the other one which attempted
the overland journey was suffering terrible hardships.
The land party was under the command of Wilson Price Hunt,
and was composed of McKenzie and three new partners, Ramsey
Crooks, Joseph Miller and Robert McLellan; also, John Day, a
noted Kentucky hunter; Pierre Dorion, a French half-breed inter-
preter, and enough trappers, voyageurs, etc., to make a total of sixty
jDeople. They reached Fort Henry, on Snake River, October 8,
1811. Small detachments were, from time to time, sent out in the
Rocky Mountains to trap, who were to use Fort Henry as a base of
supplies and a depot for furs.
The remainder of the pai*ty continued the journey down Snake
River and met mth a continuous succession of disasters. Antoine
Clappin was di^o\\Tied in passing a rapid, and soon after famine
reduced them to a pitiable condition. They were finally forced to
separate into small detachments, one party going under Crooks,
another under McKenzie, and a third under Hunt, with the hope that
by such a division their chances for reaching the mouth of the Col-
umbia would be increased. Once the parties under Crooks and
Hunt camped with only the narrow, turbulent waters of Snake
River separating them. The Hunt party had killed a horse and
were cooking it, while their starving companions on the opposite side
of the stream, with no means of crossing it, were forced to look on as
they dined. Not a man in Mr. Hunt's camp would make an effort
to send them food, until the arrival of Mr. Crooks, who, discovering
158 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
the condition of his men on the opposite side, called to the forlorn
band to start fires for cooking, that no time might be lost, while he
constructed a canoe out of skins in which to take the meat across to
them. In vain he tried to shame the more fortunate into helping
to succor their famishing companions, but "A vague and almost
superstitious terror," says Irving, "had infected the minds of Mr.
Hunt's followers, enfeebled and rendered imaginative of horrors by
the dismal scenes and sufferings through which they had passed.
They regarded the haggard crew, hovering like spectres of famine on
the opposite bank, with indefinite feelings of awe and apprehension,
as if something desperate and dangerous was to be feared from them."
When tlie canoe was finished, Mr. Crooks attempted to na\agate the
impetuous stream mth it, but found his' strength unequal to the
task, and failing to reach his companions on the opposite bank,
made another appeal to Hunt's men. Finally, a Kentuckian, named
Ben. Jones, undertook and made the passage, conveying meat to
them and then came back. Irving, in describing the sad scene,
says: —
A poor Canadian, however, named Jean Baptiste Prevost, whom famine had
rendered wild and desperate, ran frantically about the banks, after Jones had re-
turned, crying out to Mr. Hunt to send the canoe for him, and take him from that
horrible region of famine, declaring that otherwise he would never march another
step, but would lie down there and die. The canoe was shortly sent over again,
under the management of Joseph Delaunay, with further supplies. Prevost imme-
diately pressed forward to embark. Delaunay refused to admit him, telling him
that there was now a sufficient supply of meat on his side of the river. He replied
that it was not cooked, and he should starve before it was ready ; he implored, there-
fore, to be taken where he could get something to appease his hunger immediately.
Finding the canoe putting off without him, he forced himself aboard. As he drew
near the opposite shore, and beheld meat roasting before the fire, he jumped up,
shouted, clapped his hands, and danced in a delirium of joy, until he upset the
canoe. The poor wretch was swept away by the current and drowned, and it was
with extreme difficulty that Delaunay reached the shore. Mr. Hunt now sent all
his men forward excepting two or three. In the evening, he caused another horse
to he killed, and a canoe to be made out of the skin, in which he sent over a further
supply of meat to the opposite party. The canoe brought back John Day, the Ken-
tucky hunter, who came to join his former commander and employer, Mr. Crooks.
Poor Day, once so active and vigorous, was now reduced to a condition even more
feeble and emaciated than his companions. Mr. Crooks had such a value for the
man, on account of his past services and faithful character, that he determined not
to quit him; he exhorted Mr. Hunt, however, to proceed forward and join the
party, as his presence was all important to the conduct of the expedition. One of
the Canadians, Jean Baptiste Dubreuil, likewise remained with Mr. Crooks.
The occurrences at this starvation camp were on the twentieth of
ASTORIA AND THE JOINT OCCUPATION TREATY. 159
December, 1811, both parties being on their* wa}' up Snake River
after having found the descent of that stream impossible.
It was now theii' intention to strike across the country for the
Columbia, as soon as it was practicable to do so. On the twenty -
thii'd of December, Mr Hunt's followers crossed to the west side of
the stream, where they were joined by Crook's men, who were
already there. The two parties, when united, numbered thirty-six
souls, and on the next day they turned fi'om the river into a track-
less country; but, before starting, three more of theii* numl>er had
concluded to remain among the savages rather than face the hard-
ships and trials that lay before them. December 28, 1811, the head
waters of Grand Ronde River were reached, and the last day of that
year found them encamped in the valley of that name. Through
all their perils and wanderings since leaving St. Louis, one woman,
the Indian wife of Pierre Dorion, a guide, interpreter and trapper,
had accompanied them, bringing with her two children, and, as the
party entered the Grand Ronde Valley, she gave birth to another.
The next day she continued the journey on horseback as though
nothing had happened, but the little stranger only lived six days.
Mr. Hunt, after halting one or two days to enable his followers to
celebrate, in their forlorn way, the advent of a new year that had
presented to them the Grand Ronde Valley, a kind of winter para-
dise in the mountains, continued his course to the west. The Blue
Mountain ridge was passed, and January 8, 1812, an Indian village
on the Umatilla River close to the mountains was reached, where
they were hospitably received. From there their route was down
this stream to the Columbia River, thence to the mouth of the
latter, arriving at Astoria February 15, 1812.
Since lea\ang Fort Henry, October 19, 1811, out of Mr. Hunt's
party, two men had been drowned on Snake River, and poor Michael
Carriere, when exhausted, had straggled behind in Grand Ronde
Valley, and was never heard fi'om afterwards. Ramsey Crooks,
John Day and four Canadian voyageurs had been left half dead on
Snake River, to remain in the Indian country, die, or reach the Co-
lumbia as best they could. Eleven men, among whom were Donald
McKenzie, Robert McLellan and the unfortunate John Reed, had
been detached on Snake River, and following that stream until
its waters mingled with the Columbia, had reached Astoria a
160 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
montli in advance of Mr. Hunt. Mr. Stuart, when returning from
his post on the Okinagan, during the first days of April, found Mr.
Crooks and John Day on the banks of the Columbia River, without
weapons, nearly starved, and as naked as when born, having been
robbed and stripped by the Dalles Indians. They had Avintered in
the Blue Mountains about Grand Ronde Valley, and in the spring
had reached the Walla Wallas, who had fed, succored them, and
sent them on their way rejoicing down the river. When found, they
were making their way back to these early friends of the Americans,
who never failed to assist our people when in trouble. At length
all but three of those starting from the head waters of the Snake
River for Astoria had reached that place, except the four voyageurs,
and later they, too, were found by a return party.
On the ninth of May, the ship Beaver, with reinforcements and
supplies, anchored at Astoria, and the Pacific Fur Company was
in condition to enter upon a vigorous fur -gathering campaign. Mr.
Hunt, who was at the head of affairs, set out in July for Alaska to
fulfill the mission upon which the ill-fated Tonquin had sailed, and
his departure left Duncan McDougal in charge. Prior to this,
however, the various expeditions to trap waters and trade with
natives between the Rocky and Cascade Mountains had started,
sixty-two strong, up the Columbia. Among the number was the
unfortunate John Day, and, as the party approached the scenes of
his former sufferings, his mind became delirious, and the mere sight
of an Indian would throw him into a frenzy of passion. He finally
attempted his own life, but was prevented fi'om taking it, after
which a constant guard was kept over him. It was at length de-
termined to send him back to Astoria, and being placed in charge
of two Indians, he was delivered by them at the fort, where he died
in less than a year. His old compeers and staunch fi'iends, who had
shared perils and privations with him, were forced to continue their
journey with a sad memory of this companion, whose brain had
been shattered by his many misfortunes. The stream which had
witnessed his sufferings still bears the heroic trapper's name. The
arrival of trappers at the present site of Wallula, on the twenty-
eighth of July, 1812, was the signal for general rejoicing among the
friendly Walla Wallas, who greeted them with bonfires and a night
dance, in which they sang the praises of their white friends. Here
I
ASTORIA AND THE JOINT OCCUPATION TREATY. 161
the four expeditions were to separate, Robert Stuart to cross the
continent by Hunt's route; David Stuart to go up the Columbia to
Okinagan; Donald McKenzie to establish a post in the Nez Perce
country ; and John Clarke to locate one among the Spokane Indians.
Of these sev^eral expeditions, Robert Stuart, with his party, includ-
ing Crooks and McLellan, reached St. Louis eleven months later,
bearing news to Mr. Astor of his enterprise on the Pacihc Coast.
McKenzie's operations were a faihire; David Stuai't's success was
equal to his most sanguine hopes, and Mr. Clarke's efforts resulted
second only to those of Mr. Stuai-t.
On the twenty-hfth of May, 1813, Mr. Clarke started from his
post on the Spokane to reach the A\^alla Walla, the place agreed
upon as a general rendezvous, where the different expeditions were,
to meet and return to Astoria with the furs obtained in their ope-
rations during the past season. On his way up, Mr. Clarke had
left his canoes in charge of a Palouse chief, living at the mouth of
the river of that name, with whom he found them on his return.
He had twenty-eight horse 2>acks of furs, and all his men were in
high spirits because of the success that had attended their year's
work. While stopping at the mouth of this stream to repair their
canoes, in which to einl)ark upon the river, an incident happened
that can not well be passed in silence. Mr. Clarke was a strong
disciplinarian, something of ai; aristocrat, and disposed to impress
those with whom he came in contact with the dignity of his pres-
ence and person. He was in the habit of carrying a silver goblet
to drink from, and the glittering object carefully guarded by its
possessor, had a strange fascination for the superstitious Indians.
In all their land, no such wondi'ous device had been seen before.
They talked to each other concerning it, watched its appearance,
and the care mth which the lucky possessor laid it away after
using. They l^elieved it to be a great medicine, like the spotted
shirt and the white quilt among the C(eur d'Alenes, a powerful
talisman to shield its owner fi-om harm. One night it disappeared,
and Mr. Clarke was enraged. He threatened to hang the first In-
dian detected in stealing, and the next night an unfortunate one
was caught in the act. A hasty trial followed, and the prisoner
was condemned to die, when Mr. Clarke made the assembled sav-
ages a speech. He recininted the numerous gifts that had been be-
162 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
stowed, tlie beneiit the white mau's presence had been to theu' peo-
ple, and then, upbraiding them for thefts, told the Indians that he
should kill the thief he had captured with pilfered goods. The old
chief and his followers l)esought him not to do this. They were
willing that he should be punished severely, and then let go, but
the trapper was inexorable, and the poor groveling wretch was
(b-agged to a tempc^rary scaffold, constructed from oars, and was
launched into eternity. The other partners of the Pacific Fur Com-
pany were unanimous in condemning this act, and Gabriel Fran-
chere, who was one of the company clerks, wrote concerning the
killing of the unfortunate John Reed and his party by Indians dur-
ing the ensuing winter: " We had no doubt that his massacre was
an act of vengeance, on the part of the natives, in retaliation for
the death of one of their people, whom Mr. John Clarke had hanged
for theft the spring before." * Immediately after this hanging the
party embai'ked for the mouth of the Walla A\'alla, where Stuart
and McKenzie were waiting, and fi'om this point they all continued
their way dowTi the river, arriving at Astoria, June 12, 1818,
Upon re- assembling at head quarters, the return expeditions
found that, upon the whole, it had been a successful ^^ear's labor;
that the peltry brought in, amounting to one hundred and fifty-seven
packs, if sold at market rates in Canton, would pay well for the
time spent, and reimburse them for local losses. In addition to this,
they had ])ecome well established in the fur- producing regions, and
the outlook was very encouraging except for one thing. War had
been raging between Great Britain and the United States for over
a year, and they had recently become aware of the fact. On their
arrival at Astoria, J. G. McTavish, with nineteen men, was found
camped near by, awaiting the appearance of a vessel called the Isaac
Todd^ sent by the Northwest Company with stores for them, and
bearing letters of marcpie, and instructions from the British Govern-
ment to destroy everything American found on the Pacific Coast.
This latter fact \vas unknown at Astoria at the time, however, but
the non-arrival of supplies by sea, combined wath the unfavorable
news of British success in ai'ms, led the partners to fear that none
whatever would reach them. They, consequently, determined to
* This is undoubtedly incorrect, as Reed's party was killed near Fort Henry, several hundred
miles distant, and by a totally distinct tribe of Indians.
ASTOKIA AND THE JOINT OCCUPATION TREATY. 163
abandon the country and start on their return overland the ensuing
year, if their misgivings proved well founded. Tliey sold their
Spokane fort to McTavish for $848, and then furnished that gentle-
man with provisions to enable him to return to the upper country,
and, in July, they visited the interior themselves, to gather what
furs they could before taking final leave of the country. Three
months later, McTavish returned to Astoria with a force of seventy -
five men, for the purpose of meeting the vessel that had caused his
former visit, bringing, also, the news that her coming to the Colum-
bia was for the purpose of capturing Astoria, and to assist the
Northwest Company in gaining ascendency on the coast. He offered
to buy the furs of the Astorians, and, on the sixteenth of October,
1813, a transfer of the entire stock, worth at least $100,000, was
made for less than $40,000. Two months later, on December 12th,
the fort Avas surrendered to the English under command of a naval
officer. Captain Black of the Raccoon^ when the American flag was
lowered to give the British colors place, and the name of Astoria
was chano-ed to " Fort Georw." An amusino- incident of this trans-
O o o
fer is related by John Ross Cox: —
The Indians, at the mouth of the Cokimbia, knew well that Great Britian and
America were distinct nations, and that they were then at war, but were ignorant
of the arrangement made between Messrs. McDougal and McTavish, the former of
whom still continued as nominal chief at the fort. On the arrival of the Raccoon
which they quickly discovered to be one of "King George's tighting ships," they
repaired, armed, to the fort, and requested an audience of Mr. McDougal. He was
somewhat surprised at their numbers and warlike appearance, and demanded the
object of such an unusual visit. Concomly, the principal chief of the Chinooks
(whose daughter McDougal had married), thereupon addressed him in a long speech,
in the course of which he said that King George had sent a ship full of warriors,
and loaded with nothing but big guns, to take the Americans and make them all
slaves, and that, as they (the Americans) were the first white men who settled in
their country, and treated the Indians like good relations, they had resolved to
defend them from King George's warriors, and were now ready to conceal them-
selves in the woods close to the wharf, from whence they would be able, with their
guns and arrows, to shoot all the men that should attempt to land from the English
boats, while the people in the fort could fire at them with their big guns and rifles.
This proposition was uttered with an earnestness of manner that admitted no doubt
of its sincerity. Two armed boats from the Raccoon were approaching, and, had
the people in the fort felt disposed to accede to the wishes of the Indians, every man
in them would have been destroyed by an invisible enemy. Mr. McDougal thanked
them for their friendly ofTer, but added, that, notwithstanding the nations were at
war, the people in the boats would not injure him or any of his people, and therefore
requested them to throw hy their war shirts and arms, and receive the strangers as
their friends. They at first seemed astonished at this answer; but, on assuring
them, in the most positive manner, that he was under no apprehension, they eon-
164 HISTOKY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
wented to give up their weapons for a few days. They afterwards declared they
were sorry for liaving complied with Mr. McDougal's wishes, for when they ob-
served Captain Black, surrounded by his officers and marines, break the bottle of
port on the flag-staff', and hoist the British ensign, after changing the name of the
fort, they remarked that however he might wish to conceal the fact, the Americans
were undoubtedly made slaves.
Seventy-eight days after the surrender of Astoria to the British,
Mr. Hunt arrived at that fort in the brig Pedlar, and judge of his
astonishment to learn that McDougal was no h)nger a })artner of
the Pacific, but of the Northwest, Company ; that he hehl posses-
sion, not under the American, but under the British, flag; and that
all in which Mr. Hunt was interested on this coast had passed,
without a struggle, through treachery, into the hands of his country's
enemies. Mr. Hunt, finally, secured the papers pertaining to busi-
ness ti-ansactions of the Pacific Fur Company from McDougal, and
then sailed, April 3, 1814, from the shore that had seemed to yield
only misfortune and disaster in return for the efforts of himself, and
those with whom he was associated. The next day, David Stuart^
McKenzie, John Clarke and eighty-five other members and employees
of the Pacific Fur Company, started up the Columbia River in their
boats on their way across the continent, and while passing AVallula,
learned fi-(»m the widow of Pierre Dorion, of the massacre of John
Reed and his eight associates, among the Snake Indians near Fort
Henry.
Thus matters remained until the war of 1812 was terminated by
the Treaty of Ghent, by which it was stipulated that " all territory,
places and possessions,- ^vhatsoever, taken Ijy either party from the
other during the war, or which may be taken after the signing of
this treaty, shall be restored without delay." The commissioners
could not agree upon a line of division betAveen the possessions of
England and the United States west of the Lake of the Woods, so
the Oregon (question was left for further discussion, and the Colum-
bia remained disputed territory. Mr. Astor at once applied to the
President for restitution (jf his propei'ty under the terms of the
treaty, as he not only desired to recover liis losses, but to resume
operations on the Colum})ia and carry out the plan of American
occuj)ation which had been so well begun. Accordingly, in July,
1815, the government notified the British Minister at Washington
that it would immediately -reoccupy the captured fort at the mouth of
As'PoIJIA AND THE .rOINT OCriiPATION TREATY. 1(H5
tlie Columbia; 1)ut the notification elicited no official response from
Great Bi'itain. F'or two years no active measures were taken, and,
finally, in September, 1817, the sloop of war Ontario was dispatched
to the Columlna, commanded by Captain J. Biddle, who, with J.
B. Prevost, who ^vent as a passenger, constituted a commission to
accomplisii the purpose declared. They were instructed to assert
the claim of the United States to sovereignty over the region of the
Columbia, but to do so in an inoffensive manner.
This step c()m})elled Great Britain to define her position. Her
representative at AVashington officially inquired of Secretary Adams
the destination and object of the Ontario, and mth the information
he received in response to his query was the intimation, that since
England had paid no attention to the notice given her two years
l)efore, it had l)een assumed that she had no intention of claiming
any sovereign rights along the Columbia. In answer to this the
British Minister stated that the post at the mouth of the Columbia
was the private property of the Northwest Company, having been
purchased by its agent from a partner of Mr. Astor; furthermore,
that it was situated in a region long occupied by that company,
(referring, presumabty, to the establishment on Fraser River, many
hundred miles to the north), and was consequently considered a
portion of His Majesty's dominions. Quite a spirited correspond-
ence was maintained for some time, involving on each side the ques-
tions of abstract rights by discovery and absolute rights by posses-
sion, V^oth parties to the controversy basing a claim upon each of
these foundations. As the claims then put forward remained j)rac-
tically the same until the question was settled in 1846 — with a
modification only in the du^ection of additional settlements made
between these periods — it is well to define here the position assumed
by the contending parties.
The United States claimed Oregon under four distinct titles:
First, as a portion of Louisiana, purchased fi'om France in 1803;
second, by right of discovery by the Spanish explorers — Ferrelo,
Aguilar, Perez, Heceta, Bodega y Quadra, and others — the benefit
of ^vhose discoveries accrued to the United States by the Florida
purchase made in 1819, denying at the same time that Sir Francis
Drake proceeded north of the forty-third degree, a point claimed to
have been previously reached by Ferrelo [The Spanish title was not
10(l HISTORY OF WTLLAMETTE VALLEY.
asserted, of course, until after the purchase, being subsequent to the
first temporary settlement of the question] ; thii'd, by reason of the
(iiscovery of the Columbia by Captain Gray, claiming that Heceta,
Meares and Vancouver had all declared that no river existed there,
and that Broughton had simply entered it subsequent to its discov-
ery by Gray, and explored it a few miles further up; fourth, l)y
reason of the explorations of Caj^tains Le\Ads and Clarke, and the
establishment of posts at Astoria, Okinagan and Spokane by the
Pacific Fur Compau}^, denying that the sale of those posts, effected
under the duress of threatened capture by a man-of-war, was such
as to affect the right of the United States to the benefits to be de-
rived from settlements made by her subjects, especially in view of the
terms of the treaty of peace. On the part of Great Britain it was
claimed that the country was originally discovered by Sir Francis
Drake, and its coast thoroughly explored by Captain Cook and
Captain Vancouver; that the discovery of the Columbia had been
a progressive one, the successive steps having been taken by Heceta,
Meares, Vancouver, Gray and Broughton, claiming that Gray had
not entered the river ]3roper, but simply the estuary at its mouth,
and that Broughton was the first to actually enter and explore the
Columbia, and denying that Gray, who was simply a trader, could
acquire discovery rights for his government; and, finally, that she
held the country by right of exploration and possession, since
McKenzie had made an overland journey prior to that of Lewis and
Clarke, Fraser had l:)uilt a fort on Fraser Lake before Astoria was
founded, and the Northwest Company, having purchased at private
sale the property of the Pacific Fur Company, then held possession
of the Columbia region by means of settlements at Astoria and
other points along the river.
Such were the claims advanced by the two nations for possession
of Oregon, there being many undeniable rights and equities on
either side. A temporary agreement was affected in a few months,
by which it was decided that Astoria and the other posts should
remain the actual property of the Northwest Company, but that
nominal possession should be given to the United States as a nation,
the question of title being deferred for future negotiation. This
decision was a severe blow to the hopes of Mr. Astor, who had
looked to the Government to place him in possession of the prop-
ASTOHIA AND THE JOINT OCCUPATION TREATY. 167
erty which he liad lost through the fortuiies of war and the treachery
of one of hii-^ partners. So firmly intrenched was the Northwest
Company that be did not deem it advisable to found a rival estab-
lishment, and he abandoned his effort to engage in the fur trade in
the Pacific. By thus failing to support its citizens who had under-
taken to plant the flag of the United States firmly on the soil of
Oregon, the Government jeopardized, almost to total annihilation,
its chances for futm*e possession of this region.
While these negotiations were in progress, the Ontario was ful-
filling her mission. She arrived at Valparaiso in February, 1818,
and Mr. Prevost del)arked, having an official mission to the Chilean
Government. Captain Biddle continued northward, and entered the
Columbia in August, taking formal possession of the country in the
name of the United States. He then sailed to other portions of the
JPacific. Meanwhile, the controversy having been temporarily settled
upon the terms outlined above, the British Government delegated
Captain Sheriff, of the navy, as commissioner to execute formal trans-
fer of Fort George. The agent of the Northwest Company, Mr. Keith,
was also notified by his superior officers of what was about to be
done, the orders going overland with the annual Montreal express,
and enjoined to offer no opposition to the formal transfer. Captain
Sheriff sailed in the fi'igate Blossom, and meeting Mr. Prevost in
Chile, offered him passage to the Columl^ia in his vessel, which
courtesy was accepted. The Blossom cast anchor at Astoria early
in October, and Mr. Keith surrendered formal possession of the
property, retaining, of course, actual possession and o^vnership. A
certificate was given Mr. Prevost, stating that Fort George, on the
Columl)ia, had been duly surrendered to him as representative of
the United States; and he gave the ofl&cers a written acceptance of
the transfer. These formal preliminaries having been concluded,
the British standard was lowered and the stars and stripes were
temporarily displa^^ed upon the walls of the fort, while the guns of
the Blossom roared a noisy salute. The American ensign was then
lowered, and the farce was over. The United States was thus
again nominally in possession of Oregon, while the actual possessors
were the agents of the Northwest Company, subjects of Great
Britain.
Fort George in 1818 was a far different structure from Astoria
IHM HISTORY OF WILLAMP:TTE VALLEY.
as it existed when sm-reudered to the Northwest Company in 1813.
A stockade of pine logs, rising twelve feet above the ground, en-
compassed a parallelogram 150x250 feet in dimensions. Within
this were dwellings, storehouses, magazines, shops, etc. The walls
mounted two eighteen -pounders, six six -pounders, four four -pound
carronades, two six-pound cohorns and seven swivels, an armament
sufficient to render it a strong fort in those days. These remained
after the surrender, and Fort George was, practically, as much of a
British post as before.
The two governments still continued to negotiate on the main
point at issue — title to Oregon. Neither would recede from the
positions assumed at the beginning of the controversy, and to avoid
an open rupture, and with the hope that time would inject a new
element into the question, a treaty of procrastination was signed.
By this convention it was agreed that all territories and then- waters,
west of the Rocky Mountains, should be free and open to the vessels
and to the use and occupation of the citizens and sul)jects of both
nations for the period of ten years, that no claim of either part}'
should in any manner ])e prejudiced by this action, and that neither
should gain any right of dominion by su^-h use or occupation during
the specified term. This treaty of joint occupation remained in
force, by extension with mutual consent, until the (question was
definitely settled in 1846. On the twenty-second of February,
1819, the State Department consummated negotiations which had
been in progress for some time, completing the title of the United
States as defined in a previous paragraph. This was the signing
of a treaty with Spain, by which the Pro^dnce of Florida was con-
veyed to the United States, including all the rights, claims and pre-
tensions of Spain to any territories north and east of a line drawn
fi'om the source of the Arkansas, north to the forty-second parallel,
and thence to the Pacific. This remained the boundary between
the United States and Mexico, and between the disputed land of
Oregon and the Mexican possessions west of the Kocky Mountains.
It still continues to be the southern boundary of Oregon, but ceased
to divide the United States from Mexico when California, New
Mexico and Ai'izona were conquered or pm-chased.
CHAPTER XI.
THE RIVAL FUR COMPANIES.
Growth and Power of the Northioest Company — Rivalry between it and
the Htidson'a Bay Company — The Red River War — Barrows' De-
scription of the Hudson's Bay Company — The Canadian Voya-
geurs — Fort Vancouver Founded — Dimn'^s Description of the Fort
and the Methods of the Hudsoii's Bay Company in Qregon.
THE Northwest Compauy had now full control of Oregon, but
a fierce and bloody struggle was going on between it and the
older Hudson's Bay Compauy, for possession of the fur regions of
America. The companies had grown too large to be tolerant of
each other; one must go the wall. When first organized the old
company, enjoying chartered privileges and supreme monopoly of
a vast extent of territory, laughed with derision at the idea that a
few independent traders could so coml^ine as to become dangerous
rivals; but that such was the fact was quickly demonstrated. The
Northwest Company began operations on a thorough system, by
which it was soon developed into a powerful and wealthy corpora-
tion. All its managing agents were interested partners, who natur-
ally did their utmost to swell the receipts. In the plenitude of its
power it gave employment to two thousand voyageurs, while its
agents penetrated the wilderness in all directions in search of furs.
It was the pioneer of the Northwest. AVhile the chartered monop-
oly clung like a burr to its granted limits, the new organization was
exploring and taking possession of that vast region lying between
Lake Superior and the Pacific, from the Missouri to the Arctic
Ocean. It has been shown how Mackenzie made a journey to the
Arctic and another to the Pacific, and how his footsteps were fol-
lowed by Eraser and a post established in the extreme west. While
the old company was sluggishly awaiting the advent of Indians at
170 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
the few posts it liad established in central locations, the rival organ-
ization sent its agents out to trade with the tribes far and near. The
result was that all the tribes, except those in the immediate vicinity
of the Hudson's Bay Company forts, were gradually won to an
alliance with the younger and more vigorous organization. The
collection of furs was so over-stimulated that a complete extinction
of fur -bearing animals was threatened. A systematic effort was
being made to drive the old company from the most valuable beaver
country, and to so cri]3ple it that a surrender of its charter would
become necessary.
The result of this aggressive policy was to arouse the Hudson's
Bay Company to a realizing sense of the precarious condition of
affairs, and the necessity of taking energetic steps to recover the lost
ground. Its efforts to do this soon resulted in hostile collisions
between its representatives and agents of the rival company, lead-
ing to a state of war between them. The first act of actual hostility,
other than mere trade rivalry, was committed in 1806, when a trader
of the Hudson's Bay Company was forcibly deprived of four hundred
and eighty packs of beaver skins, and a few months later of fifty
more. The same year another trader was attacked and robbed of
valuable furs by servants of the Northwest Company, and received
similar treatment again the following spring. These acts of plun-
dering were numerous, and since no law but the law of might existed
in the wilderness, there was no redi-ess for the despoiled company
nor punishment for the offenders, since the latter were Canadians
and their victims citizens of England and not possessed of facilities
for securing redi^ess in the courts of Canada. In twelve years but
one case was brought to trial, in 1809, when a Hudson's Bay Com-
pany man was convicted of manslaughter for killing an agent of
the other company who was making an attack upon him with a
sword ; and this result was accomplished by the [)()werf ul influence
of the Northwest Company in Montreal.
In 1812, havins: received a o-rant of fertile land from the Hud-
son's Bay Company, Lord Selkirk, a man of energy and an enthusi-
ast on the sul)ject of colonial emigration, commenced a settlement
on Red Biver near its junction with the Assiniboine, south of Lake
Winnipeg. No sooner was this accomplished than the rival com-
pany expressed a determination to destroy the settlement, and in
THE RIVAL FUR COMPANIES. 171
the autumn of 1814 fitted out an expedition for that purpose at its
chief establishment, Fort William, on the shore of Lake Superior.
After harassing the settlement for some months, an attack was
made upon it in June, 1815, which was repulsed. Artillery having
been brought uj), the buildings^ of Fort Gibraltar, the stronghold
of the settlement, were battered down and the place captured. The
governor was sent to Montreal a prisoner, the remainder of the set-
tlers were expelled from the country, the cattle were slaughtered
and tlie buildings demolished. In the fall, however, the colonists
returned with a great accession to their numbers and again estab-
lished themselves under the leadership of Colin Robertson, being
accompanied by Robert Semple, Governor of the Hudson's Bay
Company territories. In the spring of 1816, Alexander McDon-
nell, a partner of the Northwest Company, collected a strong force
with the design of crushing the settlement completely. After cap-
turing the supply train on its way to Red River, the invading force
came upon Governor Semple and a force of thirty men all of whom
they killed, except one who was made a prisoner and four who es-
caped. The settlers still remaining in the fort, seeing the hopeless-
ness of resistance, surrendered, and to the number of two hundred
were sent in canoes to Hudson's Bay. They were chiefly Scotch,
as were also the attacking party ; but the love of gain was stronger
than the ties of blood.
In 1821 parliament put an end to this bloody feud and ruinous
competition by consolidating the rival companies under the name
of The Honorable Hudson's Bay Company, by which was created
an organization far more powerful than had either been before, and
England gained a united and j)otent agent for the advancement of
her interests in America. The settlements on the Red, Assiniboine
and Saskatchewan rivers were renewed, and Winnipeg became in a
few years the center of a prosperous community. The new com-
parfy took possession of Fort George and other posts along the Co-
lumbia, and as it thereafter became closely woven into the history
of this region, a brief description of its founding, growth and meth-
ods becomes necessary to a full understanding of subsequent events.
Dr. William Barrows gives the following description of that pow-
erful corporation:
Its two objects, as set forth in its charter, were " for the discovery of a new pas-
173 itiSTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
sage into the South Sea, and for the finding of some trade for furs, minerals and
other considerable commodities." It may well be suspected that the first was the
face and the second the soul of the charter, which grants to the company the ex-
clusive right of the " trade and commerce of all those seas, straits and bays, rivers,
lakes, creeks, and sounds, in whatsoever latitude they shall be, that lie within the
entrance of the straits commonly called Hudson Straits," and of all lands bordering
them not under any other civilized governijient. This covered all territory within
that immense basin ft-om rim to rim, one edge dipping into the Atlantic and the
other looking into the Pacific. Through this vast extent the company was made
for "all time hereafter, capable in law, to have, purchase, receive, possess, enjoy,
and retain lands, rents, privileges, liberties, jurisdiction, franchise, and heredita-
ments of what kind, nature, or quality soever they be, to them and their succes-
sors." The company held that region as a man holds his farm, or as the great bulk
of real estate in England is now held. They could legislate over and govern it,
bound only by the tenor and spirit of English law, and make war and peace within
it; and all j^ersons outside the company could be forbidden to "visit, hunt, fre-
quent, trade, traffic, or adventure" therein. P^or all this, and as a confession of
allegiance to the crowm as a dependent colony and province, they were to pay an-
nually as rent "two elks and two black beavers." Cheap rent that, especially since
the king or his agent must collect it on the ground of the company. To dwell in
the territory or even go across it would be as really a trespass as if it were done on
the lawn of a private gentleman in Middlesex county, England.
Such were the chartered rights of a monopol^^ that, growing bolder and more
grasping, became at last continental in sweep, irresistible in power, and inexorable
in spirit. In 1821 the crown granted to this and the Northwest Company united,
and for a term of twenty-one years, the exclusive right to trade with all Indians in
British North America, north and west of the United States, and not included in
the first charter. This granted only trade, not ownership in the soil. Thus, while
the chartered territory was imperial, it grew, by granted monopoly of trade, to be
continental. By degrees the trappers and traders went over the rim of the Hudson
basin, till they reached the Arctic seas along the outlet of the Coppermine and the
Mackenzie. They set beaver traps on Yukon and Eraser rivers, around the Ath-
abasca, Slave and Bear Lakes, and on the heads of the Columbia. From the ad-
jacent Pacific shore they lined their treasury' with the soft coats of the fur seal and
the sea-otter. They were the pioneers of this traffic, and pressed this monopoly
of fur on the sources, not only of the Mississippi and Missouri, but down into
the Salt Lake basin of modern Utah. What minor and rival companies stood in
the way they bought in, or crushed by underselling to the Indians. Individual en-
terprise in the fur trade, from New Foundland to Vancouver, and from the head
waters of the Yellowstone to the mouth of the Mackenzie, was at their mercy.
They practically controlled the introduction of supplies and the outgoing of furs
and peltries from all the immense region between those four points.
Within the Canadas and the other provinces they held the Indian and the Eu-
ropean equally at bay, while within all this vast unorganized wilderness, tjieir
hand over red and white man was absolute. At first the company could govern
as it pleased, and was autocratic and irresponsible. By additional legislation in 1803,
the civil and criminal government of the Canadas was made to follow the com-
pany into lands outside their first charter, commonly called Indian countries. The
Governor of Lower Canada had the appointing power of officials within those
countries— but he did not send in special men ; he appointed those connected with
the comi^any and on the ground. The company, therefore, had the administration
in those outside districts in its own hands. Thus the commercial life of the Can-
adas was so dependent upon the Hudson's Bay Company that the government could
THE RIVAL FUR COMPANIES. 173
be counted on to promote the wishes of the company. In brief, the government of
British America was practically the Hudson's Bay Company, and for all the privi-
lege and monopoly which it enjoyed, without seeming to demand it, there was an
annual payment, if called for, of " two elks and two black beavers."
This company thus became a powerful organization. It had no rival to share
the field, or waste the profits in litigation, or in bloody feuds beyond the region of
law. [Except the contest between it and the Northwest Company prior to their
consolidation.] It extended its lines, multii^lied its posts and agents, systematized
communication through the immense hunting grounds, economized time and funds
by increased expedition, made many of its factories really fortifications, and so put
the whole northern interior under British rule, and yet without a soldier. Rivers,
lakes, mountains and prairies were covered by its agents and trappers. The white
and the red men were on most friendly terms, and the birch canoe and the
pirogue were seen carrying, in mixed company, both races, and, what was more,
their mixed progeny. The extent of territory under this company seems almost
fabulous. It was one-third larger than all Europe ; it was larger than the United
States of to-day, Alaska included, by half a million of square miles. From the Ameri-
can headquarters at Montreal to the post at Vancouver was a distance of twenty-
five hundred miles; to Fort Selkirk on the Yukon, or to the one on Great Bear
Lake, it was three thousand miles, and it was still further to the rich fur seal and
sea-otter on the tide waters of the Mackenzie. Jarues Bay and Red River at Win-
nipeg seem near to Montreal in comparison. These distances would compare well
with air-line routes from Washington to Dublin, or Gibraltar or Quito.
One contemplates this power with awe and fear, when he regards the even mo-
tion and solemn silence and unvarying sameness with which it has done its work
through that dreary animal country. It has been said that a hundred years has not
changed its bill of goods ordered from London. The company wants the same
muskrat and beaver and seal ; the Indian hunter, unimproved, and the half-breed
European, deteriorating, want the same cotton goods, and fiint-lock guns, and
tobacco and gew-gaws. To-day, as a hundred years ago, the dog sled runs out from
Winnipeg for its solitary drive of five hundred, or two thousand, or even three
thousand miles. It glides, silent as a spectre, over these snow fields, and through
the solemn, still forests, painfully wanting in animal life. Fifty, seventy, an hun-
dred days it speeds along, and as many nights it camps without fire, and looks up
to the same cold stars. At the intervening posts the sledge makes a pause, as a ship,
having rounded Cape Horn, heaves to before some lone Pacific island. It is the
same at the trader's hut or factory as when the sledgeman's grandfather drove up,
the same dogs, the same half-breeds, or voyageurs, to welcome him, the same foul,
lounging Indians, and the same mink skin in exchange for the same trinkets. The
fur animal and its purchaser and hunter, as the landscape, seem to be alike under
the same immutable, uuprogressive law of nature,
" A land where all things always seem the same,"
as among the lotus-eaters. Human progress and Indian civilization have made
scarcely more improvement than that central, silent partner in the Hudson's Bay
Company — the beaver.
One feels towards the power of this company, moving thus with evenness and
immutability through a hundred years, much as one does towards a law of nature.
At Fort Selkirk, for example, the fifty-two numbers of the weekly London Times
came in on the last sledge arrival. The first number is already three years old, by its
tedious voyage from the Thames. Now one number only a week is read, that the lone
trader there may have fresh news weekly until the next annual dog-mail arrives,
and each successive number is three years behind time when it is opened ! In this
174 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
day of steamers and telegraphs and telephones, does it seem possible that any
human, white habitation can be so outside of the geography and chronology of the
world? The goods of the company, packed and shipped in Fenchui'ch Street,
leave London, and at the end of the third year they are delivered at Fort Confidence
on Great Bear Lake, or at any other extreme factory of the company ; and at the
end of three years more the return furs go up the Thames and into Fenchurch
Street again. So in cycles of six years, and from age to age, like a planet, the shares
in the Hudson's B:iy Company make their orbit and dividends. A run of three
months and the London ship drops anchor in Hudson's Bay. "For one year,''
says Butler in his " Great Lone Land," "the stores that she has brought in lie in the
warehouse at York Factory ; twelve months later they reach Red River ; twelve
months later they reach Fort Simiison on the Mackenzie."
The original stock of this company was $50,820. In fifty years it was tripled
twice by profits only, and went up to $457,380, while not one new dollar was paid
in. In 1821 the company absorbed the Northwest Company of Montreal, on a basis
of value equal to its own. The consolidated stock then was .si, 916,000, of which
$1,780,866 was from profits. Yet, meanwhile, there had been an annual payment
of ten per cent, to stockholders. In 1836 one of the company's ships left Fort
George for London, with a cargo of furs valued at $380,000. * * * When
the English Government, in 1816, conceded the claims of the United States to
Oregon, property of the Hudson's Bay Company was found within Oregon for
which that company claimed $4,990,036.67. One can not but admire the foresight,
compass, policy, and ability with which those English fur traders moved to gain
possession, and then keep in wilderness for fur-bearing, so much of North America.
* * * Travelers tell us of an oppressive, painful silence through all that
weird northland. Quadruped life, and the scanty little there is of bird life, is not
vocal, much less musical. This company has partaken of the silence of its domain.
It makes but little noise for so great an organization. It says but few things, and
only the necessary ones, and even those with an obscurity often, that only the
interested and initiated understand. The statements of its works and results are
mostly in the passive voice.
The voyageurs, so often spoken of in connections with the fur
companies, were a special outgrowth of the fur trade, and are
deserving of more than a passing notice. Irving thus describes
them: — •
The voyageurs may be said to have sprung up out of the fur trade, having origin-
ally been employed by the early French merchants in their trading expeditions
through the labyrinth of rivers and lakes of the boundless interior. In the inter-
vals of their long, arduous ahd laborious expeditions, they were wont to pass their
time in idleness and revelry about the trading posts or settlements ; squandering
their hard earnings in heedless conviviality, and rivalling their neighbors, the
Indians, in indolent indulgence and imprudent disregard of the morrow. When
Canada passed under British domination, and the old French trading houses were
broken up, the voyageurs were for a time disheartened and disconsolate, and with
diflQculty could reconcile themselves to the service of the new comers, so diflTerent
in habits, manners and language from their former employers. By degrees, how-
ever, they became accustomed to the change, and at length came to consider the
British fur traders, and especially the members of the Northwest Company, as the
legitimate lords of creation. The dress of these people is generally half civilized,
half savage. They wear a capot or sureoat, made of a blanket, a striped cotton shirt,
cloth trowsers, or leathern leggings, moccasins of deer skin, and a belt of variegated
THE RIVAL FUR COMPANIES. 175
worsted, from which are suspended the knife, tobacco pouch, and other implements.
Their language is of the same piebald character, being a French patois, embroidered
with Indian and English words and phrases. The lives of the voyageurs are passed
in wild and extensive rovings. They are generally of French descent and inherit
much of the gaiety and lightness of heaj-t of their ancestors, being full of anecdote
and song, and ever ready for the dance. Their natural good will is probably height-
ened by a community of adventure and hardship in their precarious and wandering
life. Thev are dexterous boatmen, vigorous and adroit with the oar and paddle,
and will row from morning until night without a murmur. The steersman often
sings an old traditionary French song, with some regular burden in which they all
Join, keeping time with their oars. In the course of years they will gradually dis-
appear; their songs will die away like the echoes they once awakened, and the Can-
adian voyageurs will become a forgotten race, or remembered among the poetical
images of past times, and as themes for local and romantic associations.
The Northwest Company, in 1821, prior to the consolidation,
established a post on the north bank of the Columbia, several miles
above the mouth of the Willamette. As this was on the point
named "Vancouver" by Lieutenant Bronghton, in 1792, the post
was christened "Fort Vancouver." In 1823, soon after the con-
solidation, the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company was
removed fi*om Fort George to Fort Vancouver, because it possessed
the desirable features of such an establishment more fully than any
other in this whole resjion. It was near the mouth of the AVillamette
and thei'efore the center and natural convei'ging point of trapping
parties coming down the Columbia fi'om the vast wilderness to the
east, or with the annual overland express from Montreal; fi-om the
rich trapping gi-ounds to the south, or from the upper coast and
Puget Sound. Agriculturally, the suri'oundings were all that could
be desired, to raise the large crops of gi-ain and vegetables requii'ed
at all the Company's posts, and to furnish pasturage for the beef
and dairy cattle. It was easily approachable by deep-water vessels
of large draft, and presented excellent natural facilities for loading
and discharging cargo. The vessels that came at stated periods to
bring supplies and carry away the accumulated furs, could spare
the few days' of extra time required to ascend the river, better than
the employees of the company could spare it in passing to and from
headquarters in the transaction of business. Vancouver was the
most eligible site on the Columbia for the chief trading post, and
remained the company's headquarters until it abandoned this region
entirely, in 1858. During the next four years the company spread
out in all directions, from California to Alaska, and from the Pacific
176 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
to the Rocky Mountains. Some idea can be gained of its power
and methods in Oregon from the following description given by
John Dunn, for seven years a clerk and trader of the company: —
Fort Vancouver is the grand mart and rendezvous for the company's trade and
servants on the Pacific. Thither all the furs and other articles of trade collected
west of the Rocky Mountains, from California to the Russian territories, are brought
from the several other forts and stations ; and from thence they are shipped to
England. Thither, too, all the goods brought from England for traffic — the various
articles in woolens and cottons, in grocery, in hardware, ready-made clothes, oils
and paints, ship stores, etc. — are landed, and from thence they are distributed to
the various posts of the interior, and along the northern shores by sailing vessels,
or by boats, or pack-horses, as the several routes permit ; for distribution and traffic
among the natives, or for the supply of the company's servants. In a word, Fort
Vancouver is the grand emporium of the company's trade, west of the Rocky Moun-
.tains ; as well within the Oregon territory as beyond it, from California to Kams-
tchatka.
The fort is in the shape of a parallelogram, about two hundred and fifty yards
long, by one hundred and fifty broad ; enclosed by a sort of wooden wall, rnade of
pickets, or large beams, fixed firmly in the ground and closely fitted together,
twenty feet high, and strongly secured on the inside by buttresses. At each angle
there is a bastion, mounting two twelve-pounders, and in the center there are some
eighteen-pounders ; but from the subdued and i^acific character of the natives, and
the long absence of all apprehension, these cannon have become useless. The area
within is divided into two courts, around which are arranged about forty neat,
strong wooden buildings, one story high, designed for various purposes— such as
offices, apartments for the clerks and other officers, warehouses for furs, English
goods and other commodities ; workshops for the different mechanics — carpenters,
blacksmiths, coopers, wheelwrights, tinners, etc.— in all of which there is the most
diligent and unceasing activity and industry. There is also a school-house and
chapel, and a powder magazine built of brick and stone.
In the center stands the governor's residence, which is two stories high, the
dining hall, and the public sitting room. All the clerks and officers, including the
chaplain and physician, dine together in the hall, the governor presiding. The
dinner is of the most substantial kind, consisting of several courses. Wine is fre-
quently allowed, but no spirituous liquors. After grace has been said the company
break up ; then most of the party retire to the public sitting room, called " Bachelor's
Hall," or the smoking room, to amuse themselves as they please, either in smoking,
reading, or telling and listening to stories of their own and others' curious advent-
ures. Sometimes there is a great influx of company, consisting of the chief traders
from the outposts, who arrive at the fort on business, and the commanders of vessels.
These are gala times after dinner, and there is a great deal of amusement, but
always kept under strict discipline and regulated by the strictest propriety. There
is, on no occasion, cause for ennui, or a lack of anecdote or interesting narrative ;
or, indeed, of any intellectual amusement ; for if smoking and story-telling be
irksome, then there is the horse ready to mount, and the rifle prepared. The voy-
ageur and the trapper, who have traversed thousands of miles through wild and
unfrequented regions, and the mariner, who has circumnavigated the globe, may
be found grouj^ed together, smoking, joking, si aging and story-telling, and in every
way banishing dull care, till the period of their again setting out for their respective
destinations arrives. The smoking room, or "Bachelor's Hall," presents the
appearance of an armory and a museum. All sorts of weapons, and dresses, and
THE EIVAL FUR COMPANIES. 177
curiosities of civilized and savage life, and of the various implements for the prose-
cution of the trade, might be seen there. The mechanics, and other servants of the
establishment, do not dine in the hall, or go to the smoking room.
The school is for the benefit of the half-breed children of the officers and servants
of the company, and of many orphan children of Indians who have been in the
company's employment. They are taught English (sometimes French), writing,
arithmetic and geography ; and are subsequently either apprenticed to traders in
Canada, or kept in the company's service. The front square is the place where the
Indians and trappers deposit their furs and other articles, and make their sales, etc.
There may be seen, too, great numbers of men sorting and packing the various
goods, and scores of Canadians beating and cleaning the furs from the dust and ver-
min, and coarse hairs, previous to exportation. Six hundred yards below the fort,
and on the bank of the river, there is a neat village of about sixty well-built wooden
houses, generally constructed like those within the fort, in which the mechanics
and other servants of the company, who are, in general, Canadians and Scotchmen,
reside with their families. They are built in rows, and present tlie ajjpearance of
small streets. They are kept in a neat and orderly manner. Here there is an hos-
pital, in which the invalided servants of the company, and, indeed, others who may
wish to avail themselves of it, are treated with the utmost care.
Many of the officers of the company marry half-breed women. They discharge
the several duties of wife and mother with fidelity, cleverness and attention. They
are, in general, good housewives ; and are remarkably ingenious as needlewomen.
Many of them, besides possessing a knowledge of English, speak French correctly,
and possess other accomplishments ; and they sometimes attend their husbands on
their distant and tedious journeys and voyages. These half-breed women are of a
superior class ; being the daughters of chief traders and factors, and other persons,
high in the company's service, by Indian women of a superior descent or of superior
personal attractions. Though they generally dress after the English fashion,
according as they see it used by the English wives of the superior officers, yet they
retain one peculiarity — the leggin or gaiter, which is made (now that the tanned
deer skin has been superseded) of the finest and most gaudy coloured cloth, beauti-
fully ornamented with beads. The lower classes of the company's servants marry
native women, from the tribes of the upper country, where the women are round-
headed and beautiful. These, too, generally speaking, soon learn the art of useful
housewivery with great adroitness and readiness ; and they are encouraged and
rewarded in every way by the company, in their efforts to acquire domestic economy
and comfort. These, too, imitate, in costume the dress of the officer's wives, as
much as they can ; and from their necessities of position, which exposes them
more to wet and drudgery, they retain the moccasin, in place of adopting the low-
quartered shoe.
Attached to the fort there is a magnificent farm, consisting of about three
thousand acres, of which fifteen hundred acres have already been brought to the
highest state of tillage. It stretches behind the fort, and on both sides, along the
banks of the river. It is fenced into beautiful corn fields, vegetable fields, orchards,
garden and pasture fields, which are interspersed with dairy houses, shepherds'
and herdsmen's cottages. It is placed under the most judicious management; and
neither expense nor labour has been spared to bring it to the most perfect cultiva-
tion. There is a large grist mill, and a threshing mill, which are worked by horse-
power, and a saw mill worked by water-power. All kinds of grains and vegetables,
and many species of fruits, are produced there in abundance and of superior qual-
ity. The grain crops are produced without manure ; and the wheat crop, espec-
ially, is represented by practical farmers to be wonderful.
Besides this farm, which they are every day extending, they have commenced
178 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
farming on a large scale on the Cowlitz, to the north, Umpqua, to the south, and
in other parts of the territory, where they have established posts, the produce of all
of which they use for exportation both to the Russia stations in Kamstchatka (as
they entered into a contract with the Russians, in 1839, to supply their posts in
those regions with provisions at fixed prices), and to the islands of the Southern
Pacific, and to British and American whalers and to other merchant ships. They
also keep scores of wood-cutters eniploj^ed to fell timber, which is sawed up in large
quantities, three thousand feet a day, and regularly shipped for the Sandwich
Islands and other foreign ports. And as they can afford to sell the goods purchased
in England nnder a contract of old standing, together with the productions of the
territory and their own farms, fish, beef, mutton, pork, timber, etc., at nearly half
the American price, they are likely to engross the whole trade of the Pacific, as
they do already the trade of the Oregon, especially since they command all the
ports and safe inlets of the country. This the Americans feel and declare; and it
is this which whets their cupidity and excites their jealousy and hatred.
Trapping parties leaving Vancouver are some weeks preparing for the mountains
and prairies. The blacksmiths are busily engaged making beaver-traps for the
trappers, the store-keepers making up articles for trade and equipping the men, the
clerk in charge of the provision store packing up provisions for them, to last until
they get into hunting ground, the clerk in charge of the farm providing horses and
other requisite articles. The party generally consists of about fifty or sixty men,
most of them the company's servants, others free hunters. The servants have a
stated salary, while the freemen receive so much per skin. Previous to leaving the
fort for the arduous adventure, they are allowed a small quantity of rum per man ;
and they generally enjoy a grand holiday and feast the night previous to starting.
Each man has a certain number of horses, sufficient to carry his equipment. The
free trappers generally provide their own animals. Both the company's servants
and the freemen frequently take their wives and families with them. The women
are verj^ useful on the expedition, in preparing meals and other necessaries for their
husbands during their absence from the camp. In summer and winter, whether
they have a sort of traveling camp or a fixed residence, they select the localities
that most abound in fur-bearing animals. Though a party may be obliged, from a
variety of circumstances, to winter in the plain, or in the recesses of the mountains,
or on the borders of lakes and rivers, some numbers of it return to the fort in the
fall, with the produce of the season's hunt, and report progress, and return to the
camp with a reinforcement of necessary supplies. Thus the company are enabled
to acquire a minute knowledge of the country and natives, and extend their power
and authority over both."
CHAPTER XII.
DIPLOMACY AGAIN ENDS IN JOINT OCCUPATION.
Claim of the United States to the Columbia River — Spasmodic Consid-
eration of the Oregon Question in Congress — The Rtissian Ukase —
The Monroe Doctrine — Negotiations in 18'B It.-— Claims of the United
States Advanced hxj Mr. Rash — The Opposing Claims of Great Brit-
ain— Reply of Mr. Rush and the English Commissioners to Each
Other — England Rejects America''s Offer of the Ffty first Parallel,
and Proposes the Forty-ninth and Coltimhia River — Rush Offers the
Forty-ninth to the Ocean — Rejected and the Negotiations Terminate —
Mr. Gallatin Sent to London in 1826 — Offer of the Columhia again
made hy England and Rejected— The Doctrine of Contiguity — The
Spanish Title as Modified hy the Nootka Convention — Trading Posts
Declared not to he Settlements hy Mr. Gallatin, a Declaration which
Becomes a Boomerang — The Period of Joint Occupation Indefinitely
Extended.
DURING all these years the Oregon questioD was not neglected
in Congress. It was spasmodically discussed, and much cor-
respondence was had between the two governments on the subject;
but though many things were proposed at various times, nothing
was actually done to promote American interests in Oregon, unless
the leave of absence granted Captain Bonneville be considered as
an effort in that direction. During these diplomatic negotiations
the United States firmly maintained her claim to all the rights, of
any nature whatsoever, which Spain may have possessed prior to
the Florida Treaty. She also urged that the mouth of the Colum-
bia was hers by the dual right of discovery and settlement; and,
therefore, following the general rule which had been observed by
European nations in colonizing America, all the country tributary
to that river, and its confluents, was also subject to her dominion.
180 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
As the Columbia sweeps northward to the fifty-iirst parallel, it was
urged that, by this title alone, the government had indisputable right
to the whole region lying between the forty-second and fifty-first
degrees of latitude.
In 1820, a committee was appointed by the House of Represent-
atives, to inquire into the condition of the settlements on the Pacific
Ocean, and the expediency of occupying the Columbia Kiver. This
resulted in the reporting of a bill " for the occupation of the Colum-
bia, and the regulation of the trade with the Indians in the territo-
ries of the United States " ; but, though much discussed, both then
and the ensuing year, the measure was never passed. There were
several plans advocated, among them being one to send a body of
troops overland to occupy the disputed territory, and another to
construct a chain of forts across the continent, which should form a
basis of supplies and protection for emigrants. The great draw-
back was the lack of emigrants to be supplied and protected. The
Mississippi Valley was still but sparsely settled, and no one thought
of moving two thousand miles across what was supposed to be a
region of nearly impassable mountains and almost interminable
deserts, when the rich lands of Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa were
inviting them to make their home in the domain of the " Father of
Waters.^'
Kussia stepped in as a disturbing element, by the publication, on
the sixteenth of September, 1821, of an imperial ukase, by which
exclusive title was asserted on the coast as far south as' latitude 51°,
and all foreign vessels were prohibited from approaching within
one hundred miles of said coast, under penalty of confiscation. Pro-
tests were instantly entered by both Great Britain and the United
States, Russia replying that her claim was based upon discovery,
exploration and unquestioned occupation for a period of fifty years.
Separate negotiations were opened with Russia by the two contend-
ing powers. It was at this juncture that the celebrated Monroe Doc-
trine was first enunciated in an ofiicial document. In his message
to Congress, dated December 2, 1823, President Monroe declared
that the "American continents, by the free and independent condi-
tion which they had assumed, were henceforth not to be considered
as subjects for colonization by any European power.'' This elicited
a formal protest from both England and Russia. Another docu-
DIPLOMACY AGAIN ENDS IN JOINT OCCUPATION. 181
ment, which was peculiarly offensive to England, was a paper sub-
mitted to the House, on the sixteenth of February, 1824, by Gen-
eral Jessup, in which it was proposed to establish a chain of forts
fi'om Council Bluffs to the Pacific, by which " present protection
would be afforded to our traders; and at the expiration of the priv-
ilege granted to British subjects to trade on the waters of the
Columbia, we should be enabled to remove them from our territory,
and to secure the whole trade to our citizens." This suggestion of
a preparation to expel her su))jects from Oregon by force of arms
was exceedingly, and properly so, distasteful to Great Britain, and
did much to complicate the negotiations which had been already
entered into.
The ten years' limit of joint occupation had now more than
half expired, and it became necessary to appoint commissioners to
again endeavor to affect a settlement. Mr. Rush, the American
commissioner, who had been an associate with Mr. Gallatin in
arranging the treaty of 1818, asserted that by the Louisiana title
the United States had undisputed claim as far north as the forty-
ninth parallel, since that had been recognized by the Treaty of
Utrecht as the boundary line between the possessions of France
and England, and should properly be extended to the Pacific. He
also claimed, under the Spanish title, as far north as the sixtieth
parallel, the acknowledged limit of the Russian possessions, and he
declared " the rights thus acquired from Spain were regarded by
the Government of the United States as surpassing the rights of all
other European powers on that coast." A third claim was the one
outlined in a previous paragraph, l>ased upon the discovery, explora-
tion and occupation of the Columbia. Asserting these three distinct
titles, he made the proposition that no future settlements be made by
subjects of Great Britain south of tlie fifty-first degree, nor by citi-
zens of the United States north of that parallel. Mr. Bush was,
however, authorized to make a considerable modification of that
proposal, since his letter of instructions contained the follo^ving
words: "As, however, the line already runs in latitude 49'' to the
Stony Mountains, should it be earnestly insisted upon by Great
Britain, we will consent to carry it in continuance on the same
parallel to the sea."
The plenipotentiaries of Great Britain not only declined the
182 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
proposals, but denied in toto the principles upon which it had been
offered, especially the idea that no future colonization in America
should be attempted by European nations. They declared that all
unoccupied portions of America were subjects of colonization,
including the region on the Pacific Coast lying between the forty-
second and fifty-first parallel. They declared that Great Britain
could not concede to the United States, as the successor of Spain,
those exclusive rights which she had successfully resisted when they
had been advanced by Spain herself, and which the Xootka Conven-
tion, in 1790, declared should not be admitted. They also denied
the title by right of discovery, claiming that the discovery of the
Columbia was a progressive one, participated in more conspicuously
by British subjects than by Americans; that even admitting the
discovery by Gray, he, being a private citizen, could not, merely by
entering the mouth of a river, gain title for his Government to the
whole coast for hundreds of miles above and below that j^oint,
especially since the coast had been explored prior to that time by
an official expedition (Captain Cook's) of Great Britain, and a
British subject (Sir Francis Drake) had purchased land from the
natives only a few degrees south ; that the settlement at Astoria
was subsequent, or, at the best, only coeval, to similar settlements
made by British subjects upon that stream, or upon rivers flowing
into it (erroneously referring, perhaps, to the establishment on
Fraser Lake).
To this the United States embassador replied at length, asserting
that Gray sailed under the flag and protection of the Federal Gov-
ernment, whose rights followed him ; that he was unaware, and could
not admit the fact, of any prior or contemporaneous settlement by
British subjects on the Columbia; that Cook had been preceded by
Perez, Heceta and Quadra, in his exploration of the coast; and
closed by saying that " in the opinion of my government, the title
of the United States to the whole of that coast, fi^om latitude forty-
two degrees to as far north as latitude sixty degrees, was, therefore,
superior to that of Great Britain, or any other power: first, through
the proper claim of the United States by discovery and settlement,
and secondly, as now standing in the place of Spain, and holding in
their hands all her title." The British reply was a renewal of the
former objections, especially to the Spanish title, special stress being
DIPLOMACY AGAIN ENDS IN JOINT OCCUPATION. 183
laid on the fact that England never had admitted the exclusive rights
claimed by Spain on the Pacific Coast of America, and had specifi-
cally denied and combatted them in the Nootka controversy ; the
voyage of Sir Francis Drake was urged as giving England the dis-
covery rights prior, even, to the earliest claimed by Spain, the forty-
eighth degree being placed as the northern limit of his voyage. It
was also denied that Spain could acquire title by simply sailing
along the coast, and not following up hei* discoveries by genuine
acts of possession and settlement. The response of Mr. Rush, was a
denial that Drake proceeded beyond the forty-third parallel, and a
reminder to the English plenipotentiaries that, even if all they
claimed for Drake were true, England was debarred from claiming
title through him by the rule laid down by them in the matter of
Spanish exploi'ers, since the title thus acquired had not been per-
fected by acts of possession and settlement.
By these successive statements and answers both sides to the
question having been plainly set forth, the representatives of En-
gland, rejecting Mr. Rush's proposition, made another proposal —
that the boundary line follow the forty-ninth parallel till it struck
the Columbia, and then follow down the main channel of that stream
to the ocean, navigation of the river to be open to both nations.
This was submitted, they said, in a spirit of compromise, though
they' considered that in so doing they were departing largely from
the full extent of Great Britain's rights. Mr. Rush declared his
utter inability to accept such a proposition, but that, actuated by
the same strong desire to effect a compromise, he would agree to the
forty-ninth parallel clear through to the ocean, stating that this was
the extreme limit of his authority. This was declined, and as
neither party would make further concessions the negotiations came
to an end.
In 1826, the attempt to settle this important question was
renewed, and Mr. Gallatin was sent to London, with full powers to
resume the discussion. The offer of the forty-ninth parallel and the
Columbia River was again made by the British Commissioners,
with a sop in the shape of a slice of Washington Territory south of
Gray's Harbor and Hood's Canal thrown in. Mr. Gallatin renewed
Mr. Rush's offer of the forty-ninth parallel, adding fi^ee navigation
184 HISTOKY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
to the sea from all branches of the Columbia lying north of that
line. The complete claims and offered compromises of the two na-
tions were submitted in written statements, and were published in
full in the message of President Adams, of December 12, 1827.
There was no essential difference in the claims made by the con-
tending parties from those set forth above ; they were simply urged
in different language and with a better understanding of the sub-
ject. The Louisiana title was made a prominent feature by Mr.
Gallatin; but the insufficienc}' of this was clearly shown by the
representatives of Great Britain, who also claimed that the titles of
the United States and Spain, when taken separately, were imperfect,
and when taken together destroyed each other. Mr. Gallatin also
advanced the doctrine of contiguity, asserting that the poj^ulous
settlements in the valley of the Mississippi constituted a strong claim
to the extension of their authoiity " over the contiguous vacant ter-
ritory, and to the occupation and sovereignty of the country as far
as the Pacific Ocean." This was asserted by the British Commis-
sioners to be the doctrine of " might makes right," and to be wholly
repulsive to the principles of international law.
It was maintained, and with much justness, by the English ne-
gotiators that, since the Nootka Convention especially declared the
right of both England and Spain to either of them settle upon and
take possession of any portion of the coast now in dispute which
had not been pre\dously settled upon by the other, the previous
rights of both nations acquired by discovery were thus expressly
waived, and future titles were made to depend entirely upon acts of
possession and settlement; therefore, in succeeding to the Spanish
title, the United States had acquired nothing but the right pos-
sessed by Spain to settle upon and occupy any portion of the coast
not already in the actual possession of Great Britain.
Mr. Gallatin denied that mere fur trading factories, or posts,
could be considered settlements such as were necessary to perfect
title of a nation to an extended region; but by doing this he dis-
credited the title claimed by his own Government by reason of the
establishment by the Pacific Fur Company of a post at Astoria;
also, by a simple process of reasoning, of the discovery title claimed
through Captain Gray, since that gentleman was simply a fur trader,
and was not engaged in a voyage of exploration or discovery.
DIPLOMACY AGAIN ENDS IN JOINT CONVENTION, 185
Not being able to come to any understanding upon the main
(j^uestion at issue — a definite boundary line — the negotiations were
brought to a close in 1827 by the signing of an agreement indefi-
nitely extending the period of joint occupation, making it termin-
able by either party upon gi\dng twelve months' notice to that effect.
Thus was the aid of time again invoked to furnish a solution of this
vexatious problem.
CHAPTER XIII.
FAILURE OF ALL ATTEMPTS AT JOINT OCCUPATION BY
THE AMERICANS.
Outlook for Joint Occupation — Comparison of the Advantages of the
English and American Traders — Character of the American Trap-
pers— The Hudson/ s Bay Company's Methods and Servants — Growth
of the American Fur Trade — The American Fur Company — The
Missouri Fur Company — Ashley^ of the Rocky Mountain Fur
Company^ Penetrates the Rocky Mountains — Method of Conducting
Trapping Enterprises — The Annual Rendezvous — Jedediah S.
Smithes First Overland Journey — His Second Journey Fraught
with Disaster — His Adventures in California — His Party Massacred
on the Umpqua — The Hudson''s Bay Company Recover Smith'' s Ftirs
and Pay him for Them — Gray'^s Version of this Affair — The Subject
Discussed — Bostonh and King George's Men — Dr. McLaughlin's
Account of this Episode — McLeod^s Unfortunate Expedition —
Ogden''s Expedition to the Humholdt and California — Death of
Smith — Major Pilcher and Ewing Young — Hudson'' s Bay Company
Establish Fort Umpqua and a Headquarters in California — Bonne-
ville^ s Trading Ventures — Two Efforts of Nathaniel J. Wyeth to
Trade in Oregon Result Disastrously — McLaughlin''s Remarks on
Wyeth — Abandonment of Oregon by American Trappers.
THE great power and firm footliold secured in Oregon by the
Hudson's Bay Company has been thus minutely described in
order that an adequate idea can be had of the herculean task which
lay before any American company which might seek to compete with
it in its chosen field. Joint occupation, as contemplated in the
treaties of 1818 and 1826 was only jDossible, on the principle of
the lion and the lamb. Americans cculd live in Oregon if they
would permit themselves to be swallowed by the Hudson's Bay
Company — not otherwise. The chief difficulty which lay in the
FAILURE AT JOINT OCCUPATION BY THE AMERICANS. 187
pathway of American traders in their efforts to compete with the
great English corporation, was a lack of unity of purpose and com-
bination of capital and effort. The Americans were all inde-
pendent traders, operating alone or in limited partnerships. Sepa-
rately they had not the capital to carry on the business in the sys-
tematic and comprehensive manner in which the Hudson's Bay
Company operated. There was an utter lack of system, unity of
action or wise provision for the future. The trade was not care-
fully fostered for futui'e advantage, since none of them cared to
build up a business for some one efse to enjoy, but each sought to
make all the immediate profit possible. The competition among
them was ruinous to all, and in a few years the whole trade, so far as
Americans were concerned, was ruined. In theii' competition with
the English monopoly they were at a fatal disadvantage. One
unsuccessful season with them was often financially disastrous, while
to the great corporation, covering such a vast scope of country,
dealing with so many tribes and handling such varied classes of
furs, such a thing as a completely unsuccessful year was impossible.
Gains in one section compensated for any losses in another. For
this reason, whenever two trapping parties met in open competition
for the trade of any tribe of Indians, the Americans were at a dis-
astrous disadvantage, and, except in the few instances when they
outwitted the rival trader, were forced to the wall. The agent had
full authority to use his own discretion in such cases, his only in-
structions being to crush his rival at all hazards. No spectre of
bankruptcy shook his bony finger in his face; no vision of an angry
and distrustful partner rose up before him. He could give away
every dollar's worth of goods he had, and receive the approval of
his superiors, provided, that by doing so, he defeated the rival
traders. On the contrary, the American, his entire fortune invested
in this single venture, could neither afford to give away his goods
nor to lose the opportunity to trade; for often it was the only one
of the season, and to miss it meant ruin. In 1815, Congress, in
order to aid the struggling traders, passed an act expelling foreign
trappers from the territories of the United States east of the Rocky
Mountains; but it remained a dead letter, since brigades of the En-
glish trappers continued to roam through the country along the
Missouri and its tributaries.
188 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
Candor compels the confession that there were other reasons for
the success of the English and utter failure of the American traders ;
and these were the great difference in their methods of treating the
natives and the character of the men engaged in the business. The
American trappers were, to a large extent, made up of a class of
wild, reckless and brutal men, many of them fugitives from justice.
With them mio^ht made ri2:ht, and Indian fio-htino; was one of their
chief accomplishments. A perpetual state of hostilities existed
between them and the Blackfeet and other warlike tribes. They
cared nothing for the interests *of their employers, were insubordi-
nate and quarrelsome, and the histories of their lives and adventures,
written for the glorification of the few of the most noted of them,
convince us that, as a whole, they composed the lowest stratum of
American society. Irving, in one of many similar passages, thus
speaks of one phase of their character: "The arrival of the sup-
plies gave the regular finish to the annual revel. A grand outbreak
of wild debauch ensued among the mountaineers; drinking, danc-
ing, swaggering, gambling, quarreling and fighting. Alcohol,
which, fi'om its portable qualities, containing the greatest quantity
of fiery spirit in the smallest compass, is the only liquor carried
across the mountains, is the inflammatory beverage at these carousals,
and is dealt out to the trappers at four dollars a pint. When inflamed
by this fiery beverage, they cut all kinds of mad pranks and gam-
bols, and sometimes burn all their clothes in their drunken brava-
does. A camp, recovering from one of these riotous revels, presents
a serio-comic spectacle; black eyes, broken heads, lack lustre vis-
ages." Alcohol was a leading article of merchandise, and the annual
assemblage at the points of rendezvous and the meetings with
Indians for the purposes of trade, were invariably the scenes of
drunken debauchery like the one described. Many impositions
were practiced on the Indians, and the men, being irresponsible
and mthout restraint, were guilty of many acts of injustice. The
Indians learned neither uprightness nor morality fi'om contact with
them, and had respect only for theii' bravery.
The reverse was the case with the servants of the Hudson's Bay
Company, who were men, chiefly half-breeds and descendants of
the French settlers of Canada — the agents and factors being gener-
ally of Scotch nativity — who had been reared to the business, as
FAILUEE AT JOINT OCCUPATION BY THE AMERICANS. 189
had been their fathers before them, and cheerfully submitted to the
rigid discipline maintained by the company. It was the company's
policy to avoid all troul)le with the natives, to whom they gave no
liquor whatever. It was by pandering to the Indian's proverbial
thirst for "fire-water" that the Americans occasionally defeated
their opponents in competition for the trade of a tribe; still, it
sometimes happened that after the noble red man had been hilari-
ously and even pugnaciously drunk for a week on American
alcohol, they sobered up sufficiently to sell their furs to the English
trader, who could offer them such a greater quantity of goods in
exchange, and left their bibulous friends to mourn. By just and
generous treatment the company souglit to })ind the Indians to them
by a community of interest; yet an act of l)ad faith or treachery
was never permitted to go unrebuked. By this means it obtained
an influence among the tribes covering a region over a thousand
miles square, which amounted almost to the authority of govern-
ment; and this influence was sufliciently powerful to cause the
Indians of some tribes to not only refuse to trade with Americans,
but to decline selling them provisions when in the greatest distress.
Bonneville found this to be the case when he undertook the experi-
ment of joint occupation, and sought to do business in Oregon,
the chosen field of the great monopoly.
The rise and gro^vth of the Hudson's Bay and Northwest Com-
panies have been traced till they united and spread like an octopus
over the whole AYest. Let us also trace the growth of American
fur enterprise until it began to enter Oregon in competition with the
united rivals. In 1762 the Governor of Louisiana, then a Province
of France, chartered a fur company under the title of "Pierre
Legueste Laclede, Antoine Maxan tfe Co." The following year
Laclede established Fort St. Louis, where now the great city of that
name stands, and this became the headquarters of the fur trade as
carried on by the French of Louisiana. At that time the Canadian
representatives of France had their general headquarters at Macki-
naw and Montreal ; but Canada becoming a British Province the
following year, subjects of Great Britain, chiefly Scotchmen, suc-
ceeded to the fur trade of that region. After the United States
became a nation, American traders engaged in the fur trade along
and west of the great lakes, Mackinaw becoming theii* general head-
190 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
quarters. These men were chiefly New York merchants, the lead-
ing spirit being John Jacob Astor, whose ill-fated attempt to found
an establishment at the mouth of the Columbia has been related.
The trade as then carried on ran in four great belts. To the north
was the Hudson's Bay Company; next came the young and ag-
gressive North^vest Company; south of them the independent
American traders operated; and still further south was the field oc-
cupied by the French. How the two English companies became
consolidated and spread out over the whole region north of the
Missouri and gained complete possession of Oregon, has been fully
set forth.
The next step was the substitution of Americans for Frenchmen
at St. Louis, the natural result of the purchase of Louisiana by the
United States. Immediately following this event St. Louis became
the goal of thousands of young men who loved the excitement and
adventures of a frontier life, and of as many more of all ages who
preferred the obscurity of the frontier to the seclusion of a state's
prison or the notoriety of a public execution. To say the least, the
society of that frontier city was far from choice. It was not long
before the Americans began to be in a majority in the various
brigades of trappers which roamed the plains as far west as the
base of the Eocky Mountains, while the direction of these enter-
prises fell almost entirely into their hands. The French trappers,
however, never entirely disappeared, for their names are found fre-
quently mentioned in all narratives concerning the trapping frater-
nity. They have generally been confounded with the voyageurs
and trappers of French descent who formed the bulk of the ordinary
servants of the Hudson's Bay Company; but this is an error, since
the latter were the Canadian French, who had transferred their
allegiance to the British conquerors and successors of their old em-
ployers, while the former were the descendants of the French of
Louisiana, and, consequently, were Americans.
The act of Congress in 1815, expelling British subjects from the
territories east of the Rocky Mountains, served to stimulate the
American traders. The American Fur Company, at the head of
which was Mr. Astor, then operating in the lake region fi'om Mack-
inaw, began to send trapping parties further west, reaching the
headwaters of the Mississippi and Missouri. Other American
FAILUEE AT JOINT OCCUPATION BY THE AMERICANS. 191
traders opened an important trade between St. Louis and Santa Fe
the latter becoming headquarters for the fur business in the region
of New Mexico, then a Province of Mexico. Up to this time the
operations of American trappers had not extended beyond the base
of the Rocky Mountains, except in the instance previously men-
tioned, that of the Missouri Fur Company. This was a company
organized at St. Louis in 1808, stimulated by the reports of the
Columbia region brought in by Lewis and Clarke, and was headed
by Manuel Lisa, a Spaniard. Mr. Henry, a pai'tner, established
Fort Henry the same year, on Lewis, or Snake, River, just west of
the summit of the mountains, and other posts were founded on the
Upper Missouri. Two years later, however, these were abandoned,
owdng to a failure of supplies and the hostility of the natives. The
next effort was made by General W. H. Ashley, who had long been
the leading spirit in such enterprises at St. Louis, and was the senior
partner of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. In 1823 he led a
party of trappers up the Platte to the Sweetwater, followed up the
latter stream to its source, discovered the famous South Pass (the
one Fremont endeavored to appropriate to himself twenty years
later), explored the headwaters of the Colorado, or Green, River,
and returned to St. Louis in the fall. The next year he again
entered the mountains and discovered Great Salt Lake and Lake
Ashley. On the later he established Fort Ashley, and leaving one
hundred men at that post, returned to St. Louis. From that time
the Rocky Mountains were the favorite trapping grounds of the
Americans. Their method of doing business was by no means sys-
tematic. Each company, when there were rivals, organized several
brigades of trappers, sufficiently strong to protect themselves fi'om
hostile Indians, and sent them out in various directions, generally
under the leadership of an interested partner. Once a year these
parties assembled at a previously designated rendezvous, generally
on Green River, where a settlement was made. There they met the
partner who was the connecting link between them and civilization,
such as it was, at St. Louis. He had come up with a train of sup-
plies and packs of goods for the Indian trade, and turning these
over to his partners, he loaded his train with the accumulated furs
and conveyed them to market at St. Louis. Often furs were sent
down the Missouri in a nondescript boat, made of buffalo skins — a
192 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
craft of eccentric unreliability. With the supplies was invariably a
liberal quantity of alcohol. Whisky was too bulky to carry, and
as the palates of the trap^^ers and Indians were none too refined,
sour mash and bourbon were omitted from the wine list. There
was plenty of water at hand and the spirits could be easily diluted
to any strength required, though there were not a few who scorned
to spoil their drink by putting water in it. Frequently two or three
rival bands of trappers assembled at the same rendezvous, and it was
not unseldom that a thousand white men and two or three thousand
Indians were in camp at one time. The appearance of the train
from St. Louis was invariably followed by one of those wild
debauches described above by Irving, the greatest excesses being
committed by the fi'ee trapjjers, those who had been the longest in
the business and had abandoned all thought of any other existence
than the free and untrammeled life of the mountains. These men
worked for themselves, receiving a stipulated price for all the furs
taken by them. In return for a contract given by them to sell all
their fiu-s to the company, they were allowed almost unlimited
credit, which they exercised as freely as it was offered. Their
heaviest expenditures were for spirits, horse, gun, traps, clothing,
and gaudy adornments of every kind for their Indian women, of
whom each possessed at least one. It not infrequently happened
that in a few days their reckless excesses and their heedless gener-
osity to their fair ones not only exhausted their balance with the
company, but ran up such an enormous bill of credit that their labor
for a year was pledged in advance. When it is known that some
of these men, when employed on a salary, received as high as two
thousand dollars a year, the full extent of their extravagance will
be better understood. That is a large sum to expend in two or
three weeks for spirits and gewgaws.
In 1825 the Kocky Mountain Fur Company dispatched Jede-
diah S. Smith into the country west of Great Salt Lake, with a
party of forty men. He discovered Humboldt River, which he
named " Mary's River " in honor of his Indian wife, so the old
trappers testify, and following down that stream crossed the Sierra
Nevada Mountains, arriving in the Sacramento Valley in July.
This was undoubtedly the first overland journey to California, not-
withstanding that Cronise speaks of American trappers appearing
FAILUEE AT JOINT OCCUPATION BY THE AMEEICANS. 193
there as early as 1820. He gives no authority for the statement,
and there is no record of any other party having penetrated so far
west; the context, also, shows that he confounded these supposi-
tious early trappers with a portion of Smith's company which he left
behiud him when he returned. Smith had good success, and leav-
ing the majority of his company to continue their operations, he
returned to the general rendezvous on Green River. He crossed
the mountains on his homeward journey in the vicinity of Mono
Lake, discovering large deposits of placer gold in that region, spec-
imens of which he took with him to exhibit to his employers on
Green River. General Ashley, having made a fortune, was then
ready to retire fi'om active participation in the business. He there-
fore sold his interests in the Rocky Mountain Fur Company to
William Sublette, Jedediah S. Smith and David Jackson. Smith
again started for California in the spring of 1826, to rejoin the
party he had left there, of whose success he and his partners enter-
tained high hopes. It was his purpose to^make a thorough inspec-
tion of the gold placers, trap through the Sacramento Valley, and
with his whole party return to Green River to pai'ticipate in the
annual meeting the following summer. In his journey he passed as
far south as the Colorado River, and, at some point on that stream,
his party was attacked by Indians, who killed all except Smith,
Turner and Galbraith. Those three escaped to Mission San Ga-
briel, and, notwithstanding their forlorn and distressed condition,
were arrested as filibusters by the panicy Mexicans and sent to San
Diego. At that point there happened to be several American ves-
sels, whose officers signed a certificate that Smith was simply a
peaceful trader and possessed a passport from the Commissioner of
Indian Affairs of the United States. The certificate bears date of
December 20, 1826, and was potential to prociu-e the release of the
prisoners. He then proceeded to hunt for the men he had left the
year before, and found them in camp on the American River, in
the vicinity of Folsom, their residence there leading to the bestowal
of that title upon the stream. It was his purpose to return by way
of the Columbia River, but that season was one of unusual snows
and floods, and he was unable for a long time to leave the valley.
His movements are somewhat uncertain, but are partially revealed
in the following letter, written by him to Father Duran. The
194 HISTOET OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
Mexicans were uneasy about the intentions of this party of armed
Americans, and the worthy Father wrote him a letter asking for
information. Smith replied: —
Reverend Father. — I understand, through the medium of some of your Chris-
tian Indians, that you are anxious to know who we are, as some of the Indians have
been at the mission and informed you that there were certain wliite people in the
country. We are Americans on our journey to the River Columbia ; we were in at
the Mission San Gabriel in January last. I went to San Diego and saw the general,
and got a passport from him to pass on to that place. I have made several efforts
to cross the mountains, but the snows being so deep, I could not succeed in getting
over. I returned to this place (it being the only point to kill meat), to wait a few
weeks until the snow melts so that I can go on ; the Indians here also being friendly,
I consider it the most safe point for me to remain, until such time as I can cross the
mountains with my horses, having lost a great many in attempting to cross ten or
fifteen days since. I am a long ways from home, and am anxious to get there as
soon as the nature of the ease will admit. Our situation is quite unpleasant, being
destitute ot clothing and most of the necessaries of life, wild meat being our principal
subsistence. I am. Reverend Father, your strange but real friend and Christian
brother. J. S. SMITH.
May 19th, 1827.
Soon after this correspondence Smith started northward, crossing
to the coast in the vicinity of Russian Kiver. He continued along
the coast to the Umpqua, and while ferrying his effects across the
stream on a rudely constructed raft, his party was attacked by
Indians, with whom they were holding friendly intercourse, and all
but three were slain. Smith, Daniel Prior and one of the Indians
were on the i-aft at the time of the attack, and when the signal yell
was given the savage sprang into the water with Smith's gun in his
hand; but he never lived to enjoy his prize, for Smith seized his
companion's rifle and buried a bullet in the Indian's brain the in-
stant his head appeared above water. The two men landed on the
opposite side of the stream and succeeded in making their way to
Vancouver, where they received a warm and sympathetic welcome.
The officers of the Hudson's Bay Company would have done their
utmost to have ruined his business had he come into their field with
a band of trappers ; but one in his pitiable condition — his followers
massacred and his furs and accoutrements plundered — could only
excite their deepest sympathy. A few days later a third man made
his appearance, more forlorn, if possible, than the others. This was
Richard Laughlin, who was in camp at the time of the attack, and
had seized a burning brand from the fii-e, with which he rained
FAILUEE AT JOINT OCCUPATION BY THE AMERICANS. 195
scorching blows upon the naked bodies of his assailants until he
cleared a passage for himself and escaped.
It was deemed necessary by the officers of the company to chas-
tise the Indians who had been guilty of this unprovoked outrage,
as a warning to other tribes who might feel encouraged to pounce
down upon unwary bands of trappers ; besides, the furs stolen were
exceedingly valuable and ought to be recovered. It happened that
Governor Simpson was at Fort Vancouver at the time Smith arrived
in such a forlorn condition, and he sent out a party under Thomas
McKay, to punish the Indians and recover the captured property,
both as a necessary step to maintain the company's authority and
as an act of courtesy to the despoiled trader. Accounts vary as to
the degree of punishment inflicted, but at all events the furs were
recovered and conveyed to Vancouver, and since he could not carry
them, having no means, and since the company, from a business
point of view, could not afford to provide him with facilities for
carrying on opposition to it, he sold the whole lot to the company
for $40,000. They were, to be sure, worth more in St. Louis, but
under the circumstances, this was a fair price for them on the
Columbia. The most detailed account of this incident is given by
Rev. Gustavus Hines, who received the facts from Dr. McLoughlin
in person. Gray's History of Oregon, a rabid anti-Hudson's Bay
Company volume, seriously questions the correctness of these state-
ments. It says: —
The property was recovered from the Indians by giving them presents of blank-
ets and powder, and such things as the Indians wished, as stated to us by a French-
man, a servant of the company, who was one of McKay's party that went to get
the furs. They found no bodies to bury, and had no fight with the Indians about
the property, as stated by Mr. Smith, also. But, as the Hudson's Bay Company
tells the story, through Mr. Hines, they spread terror through the tribes. * * *
Mr. w Hines says his Umpqua party returnedin triumph to Vancouver! And well
they might, for they had made the best season's hunt they ever made in getting
those furs and the property of Smith, which paid them well for the expedition, as
there was no market for Smith, except in Loudon, through the hypocritical kind-
ness of Mr. Simpson. By this time Mr. Smith had learned all he wished to of this
company. He preferred giving them his furs at their own price to being under
further obligations to them. Mr. Sublette, Mr. Smith's partner, did not speak as
though he felt under much obligation to Mr. Simpson or the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany, which was not long after the transaction referred to. I do not know how the
company regard these statements of Mr. Hines, yet I regard them as true so far as
Mr. Hines is concerned, but utterly false as regards the company. * * *
According to the testimony given in the case of the Hudson's Bay Company v.
United States, the amount of furs seized by the company at that time was forty
196 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
packs, worth at the time $1,000 each, besides the animals and equipments belonging
to the party, a large portion of which was given to the Indians to compensate them
for the services rendered'the company in destroying Smith's expedition and killing
his men."
It is a sufficient refutation of the above to state that the author
is a monomaniac on the subject of the Hudson's Bay Company and
the Catholics, resulting fi*om the religious struggle between rival
missionary establishments, with one of which he was connected.
No sin is too black or crime too heinous for him to charge to the
score of his old opponents. It is true that it was the company's
policy to overbear all opposition; that all Indians over whom they
exercised control were strictly enjoined from dealing with in-
dependent traders or selling them supplies ; that their agents were
instructed never to supply such parties with food or ammunition,
unless the dictates of pure humanity required it, as in the case under
consideration; but that it ever encouraged the thought among the
natives that it would be pleased by the murder of Americans, is not
susceptible of proof, and the idea is inconsistent with the character
of the men who administered its affairs on the Pacific Coast,
especially the kind and benevolent Dr. John McLoughlin, Chief
Factor at Vancouver. Smith's party was the first band of American
trappers to invade the company's field in Oregon, and as their
presence was unsuspected, since the company had not yet begun to
operate in Southern Oregon and California, it is impossible that
these Indians could have been encouraged to attack them. Gener-
ally speaking, the Indians of this region, save those at the mouth of
the Columbia, did not at that time understand the difference in na-
tionality of white men, though but a few years later the appearance
of Americans along the Columbia taught them all the difference
between " Bostons " and " King George's Men," a distinction which
was carefully impressed upon them by the representatives of the
Hudson's Bay Company, and which, in their eyes, was a most im-
portant one, as subsequent events plainly indicate. To show that
the company did not encourage a general spirit of hostility against
Americans, though admitting, or, rather, not denying, that the
tribes were urged to hold no communication whatever with Ameri-
can traders, Dunn relates the following incident, occurring, proba-
bly, subsequent to 1830: —
FAILURE AT JOINT OCCUPATION BY THE AMERICANS. 197
On one occasion an American vessel, Captain Thompson, was in ttie Columbia,
trading for furs and salmon. The vessel had got aground in the upper part of the
river, and the Indians, from various quarters, mustered with the intent of cutting
the Americans otf, thinking that they had an opportunity of revenge, and would
thus escape the censure of the company. Dr. M'Loughlin, the governor of Fort
Vancouver, hearing of their intention, immediately dispatched a party to their ren-
dezvous, and informed them that if they injured one American, it would be just
the same offense as if they had injured one of his servants, and they would be treated
equally as enemies. This stunned them, and they relinquished their purpose and
all retired to their respective homes. Had not this come to the governor's ears the
Americans must have perished.
Such conduct is characteristic of the kind-hearted Chief Factor,
and it is probable that he would have thus acted had he been im-
plicitly enjoined to the contrary by his superior officers. One thing
is certain — in after years he lost the favor of the Grovernor by not
withholding from American settlers the aid their necessities required,
though he well knew that by so doing he wslb violating the well-
defined jjolicy of the company of discouraging American immigra-
tion. Just when the title "Bostons" was first bestowed upon
Americans, to distinguish them from the English, or " King George's
Men," is a matter of uncertainty; but it was probably done in 1832,
when a Boston merchant, Nathaniel J. Wyeth, entered Oregon to
engage in the fur trade, as will appear subsequently. In after years
all white people became known as "Bostons," with the exception
of the soldiers and the priests, and this classification exists at the
present day.
Dr. McLoughlin died on the third of September, 1857, at the
age of seventy-three, and a stone marks his last resting place in the
Catholic churchyard at Oregon City. Among his papers was found
a quite lengthy manuscript, in his own handwriting, detailing at
length his acts in connection with many events, and showing how
his efforts to be just, kind and generous to the settlers had not only
failed to win him the good will of many of them, or justice from the
Government, but had lost him the friendship of his former fellow -
officers of the Hudson's Bay Company. It details quite minutely
the incident which is now under consideration, and it will be ob-
served that the Doctor's version differs somewhat from that of Hines
or Gray in several particulars, especially in regard to the quantity
and value of the furs recovered. This posthumous paper has been
published in full in the " Transactions of the Oregon Pioneer Asso-
198 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
elation," and will be frequently quoted from in the succeeding pages.
That portion referilng to the Umpqua massacre is as follows: —
One night in August, 1828, I was surprised by the Indians making a great noise
at the gate of the fort, saying they had brought an American. The gate was opened,
the man came in, but was so affected he could not speak. After sitting down some
minutes to recover himself, he told he was, he thought, tlie only survivor of eighteen
(18) men, conducted by the late Jedediah Smith. All the rest, he thought, were
murdered. The party left San Francisco bound to their rendezvous at the Salt
Lake. They ascended the Sacramento Valley, but finding no opening to cross
the mountains to go east, they bent their course to the coast, which they reached
at the mouth of Rogue River, then came along the beach to the Umpqua, where
the Indians stole their ax, and as it was the only ax they had, and which they
absolutely required to make rafts to cross rivers, they took the chief prisoner
and their ax was returned. Early the following morning. Smith started in a
canoe with two (2) men and an Indian, and left orders, as usual, to allow no
Indians to come into camp. But to gratify their passion for women, the men
neglected to follow the order, allowed the Indians to come into camp, and at an
Indian yell five or six Indians fell upon each white man. At the time, the
narrator. Black, was out of the crowd, and had just finished cleaning and loading
his rifle; three (3) Indians jumj^ed on him, but he shook them off, and seeing all
his comrades struggling on the ground and the Indians stabbing them, he fired on
the crowd and rushed to the woods pursued by the Indians, but fortunately escaped ;
swam across the Umpqua and [went] northward in the hopes of reaching the Colum-
bia, where he knew we were. But broken down by hunger and misery, as he had
no food but a few wild berries which he found on the beach, he determined to give
himself up to the Killimour, a tribe on the coast at Cape Lookout, who treated him
with great humanity, relieved his wants and brought him to the Fort, for which, in
case whites might again fall in their power, and to induce them to act kindly to
them, I rewarded them most liberally. But thinking Smith and his two men might
have escaped, we made no search for them at break of day the next morning. I
sent Indian runners with tobacco to the Willamette chiefs, to tell them to send
their people in search of Smith and his two men, and if they found them to bring
them to the fort and I would jjay them ; and also told them if any Indians hurt these
men we would punish them, and immediately equipped a strong party of forty
(40) well armed men. But as the men were embarking, to out great joy. Smith and
his two men arrived.
I then arranged as strong a party as I could make to recover all we could of
Smith's property. I divulged my plan to none, but gave written instructions to
the officer, to be opened only when he got to the Umpqua, because if known before
they got there, the officers would talk of it among themselves, the men would hear
it and from them it would go to their Indian wives, who were spies on us, and my
plan would be defeated. The plan was that the officer was, as usual, to invite the
Indians to bring their furs to trade, just as if nothing had happened. Count the
furs, but as the American trappers mark all their skins, keep these all separate, give
them to Mr. Smith and not pay the Indians for them, telling them that they
belonged to him ; that they got them by murdering Smith's people.
They denied having murdered Smith's people, but admitted they bought them
of the murderers. The officers told them they must look to the murderers for the
payment, which they did ; and as the murderers would not restore the property
they had received, a war was kindled among them, and the murderers were pun-
ished more severely than we could have done, and which Mr. Smith himself
admitted, and to be much preferable to going to war on them, as we could not dis-
FAILUEE AT JOINT OCCUPATION BY THE AMERICANS. 199
tinguish the innocent from the guilty, who, if they chose, might fly to the mount-
ains, where we could not find them. In this way we recovered property for Mr.
Smith to the amount of three thousand two hundred dollars, without any expense
to him, and which was done from a principle of Christian duty, and as a lesson to
the Indians to show them they could not wrong the whites with impunity.
Smith's report of the excellence of the region to the south as a
trapping ground aroused the company to the importance of reapino-
the benefit of the American trader's enterprise. Accordingly, two
expeditions were sent out in different directions to trap over the
field Smith had explored. It has been said that the service of guides
to these new beaver streams was part of the price paid by him for
the recovery of his furs and traps ; but a positive statement on that
point is impossible. One party, consisting of forty men, completely
equipped for a year's absence, started southward, led by Alexander
Roderick McLeod, and guided by Turner. Among them were some
of the men who had come out to Astoria with the Pacific Fur Com-
pany, and had remained here in the employ of the T^orthwest Com-
pany and its successor. These were Etinne Lucier, Joseph Gervais,
both well known to the early pioneers, Alexander McCarty, William
Canning and Thos. McKay, whose father perished in the Toiiquin.
On theu' journey southward they bestowed several of the familiar
names of Southern Oregon, such as "Jump-off- Joe," " Rogue River,"
and " Siskiyou Mountain." The first was so named because of an
adventure which happened to Joe McLoughlin, son of the Chief Fac-
tor. The second was called "La Rivier de Caqucain," because the
Indians stole some of their traps and horses, and gave them much
trouble. The last received its title because an old white, bobtailed
horse, belonging to Jean Baptiste Pairroult, was stolen while they
were camped on the mountain, " Siskiyou " meaning " bobtail " in
the patois French of the Canadian trappers. McLeod's party met
with considerable su^'cess ; but they were snowed in, early in the
winter, on the banks of a tributary of the Sacramento, lost their
horses, and were unable to get out of the mountains with the large
jjacks of furs and traps. In this emergency, McKay, McLoughlin
and Pairroult started on foot for Vancouver, to procure horses, and
after much hardship and suffering reached headquarters. McLeod,
however, unable to procure food for his men, did not wait for the
expected relief, but cached his furs and traps, and also made his
toilsome way to Vancouver. The cache was made near the eastern
200 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
base of Mount Shasta, which they called " Mt. McLoughlin." When
the relief party arrived at the deserted canij), the following spring,
it was found that the snow and rains had caused the river to flood
its banks, and the furs had become wet and spoiled. The stream
was ever afterwards known among the trappers as " McLeod River,"
the name it still bears in pronunciation, though the orthography
has been changed to "McCloud." The reason for this is, that in
sound the two names are very similar, and that Ross McCloud, a
very worthy and well-known gentleman, resided on the stream in
an early day, though not for a quarter of a century after it received
its baptism of "McLeod." Care should be taken by all map
makers, historians, and writers generally, to adhere to the original
orthography.
The other party referred to was led by Peter Skeen Ogden, and
was accompanied by Smith. They passed up the Columbia and
Lewis, or Snake, rivers, to the source of the latter, where Smith left
them and proceeded to the general rendezvous of his company on
Green River. Ogden continued southward until he reached the Hum-
boldt. That stream of many titles was known among the American
trappers as " Mary's River," and among the Hudson's Bay people
as " Ogden's River," its present name having been bestowed upon
it by Fremont, who had sought through that region in xam for the
fabulous " Buena Ventura." Ogden passed down the stream to the
" Sink," and then crossed the Sierra Nevada to Sacramento Valley
through Walker's Pass. He trapped along the Sacramento, and
continued northward until he reached Vancouver, sometime in the
summer of 1829, with a valuable lot of furs. When Smith appeared
at the Green River rendezvous with the tale of his manifold fortunes,
he was as one risen from the dead, as his partners, having received
no tidings of him foi* two years, supposed him to have perished.
In 1830 he disposed of his interest in the Rocky Mountain Fur
Company, and the following year was treacherously killed by In-
dians, while digging for water in the dry bed of the Cimeron River,
near Taos, New Mexico, and was buried there by his companions.
The second party of American trappers to enter Oregon was that
of Major Pilcher. They left Green River in 1828, and passed along
the western base of the Rocky Mountains to Flathead Lake, where
they wintered. In the spring they descended Clarke's Fork and the
\
FAILURE AT JOINT OCCUPATION BY THE AMERICANS. 201
main Columbia to Colville River, up which they ascended to its
source and started on their return eastward. Gray says: "This
party of Major Pilcher's were all cut off but two men, besides him-
self; his furs, as stated by himself to the Avi'iter, found their way into
the forts of the Hudson's Bay Company." The ^witer, though not
stating it positively, intends to convey the impression that these men
were murdered at the instigation of the Hudson's Bay Company, or,
at least, with its sanction. That the captured furs were sold to the
company is true, but as that was the only market open to the In-
dians, it is a very small foundation upon which to lay a charge of
murder against the purchasers. The next band of American trap-
pers was that of Ewing Young, who had been for years a leader of
trapping parties from Santa Fe to the headwaters of the Del Norte,
Rio Grande and Colorado rivers. He entered California through
Walker's Pass, in 1829, and returned the next year. In 1832 he
again entered California and followed Smith's route into Oregon as
far as the Umpqua, when he turned eastward, crossed the moun-
tains to the tributary streams of the Columbia and Snake rivers,
entered Sacramento Valley again fi'om the north, and finally crossed
out by the Tejon Pass, having been absent from Santa Fe two years.
Mr. Young soon returned, and became one of the first and most
energetic of the American settlers in Oregon, his death a few years
later leading to the organization of the Provisional Government.
While in the Sacramento Valley, in 1832, Young encountered a
brigade of Hudson's Bay trappers, led by Michael Laframbois. The
company had made this one of their fields of operation, and had
the year before established Fort Umpqua, at the confluence of Elk
Creek and Umpqua River, as a base of supplies for Southern Ore-
gon and California. In 1833 an agency was established at Yerba
Buena (San Francisco), and trapping headquarters in Yolo and San
Joaquin counties, both places becoming known to the early Ameri-
can settlers as " French Camp." J. Alexander Forbes, the first
English historian of California, and W. G. Ray, represented the
company at Yerba Buena until it withdrew from California in
1845.
William Sublette and David Jackson retired from the Rocky
Mountain Fur Company in 1830, at the same time as Smith, the new
proprietors being Milton Sublette, James Bridger, Robert Campbell,
202 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
Thomas Fitzpatrick, Frapp and Jarvis. In 1831 the old American
Fur Company, which had been managed so long by Mr. Astor but
was now directed by Ramsey Crooks, one of Mr. Astor's partners in
the Astoria venture, began to push into the trapping grounds of
the other company. Great rivalry sprang up between them, which
was the following year intensified by the appearance of two other
competitors in the persons of Captain B. L. E. Bonneville and Na-
thaniel J. Wyeth. Captain Bonneville was a United States army
officer, who had been giv-en permission to lead a party of trappers
into the fur regions of the Northwest, the expedition being counte-
nanced by the Government only to the extent of this permit. It
was supposed, that, by such an undertaking, sufficient additional
information of the region explored would be obtained to warrant
authorizing an officer to engage in a private venture. The Captain
first reached the Rocky Mountains in 1832. In 1833 he sent Joseph
Walker with forty men to California over the route formerly pur-
sued by Smith, and on Christmas of the same year started with three
companions from his camp on Portneuf River, upon an expedition
to Fort Walla Walla. His object, as given by Irving, was: "To
make himself acquainted with the country, and the Indian tribes;
it being one part of his scheme to establish a trading post some-
where on the lower part of the river, so as to participate in the
trade lost to the United States by the capture of Astoria." He
reached Powder River on the twelfth of January, 1834, whence his
journey was continued down Snake River and by the Nez Perce
trail to Fort Walla Walla, where he arrived March 4, 1834.
This journey, in mid-winter, was attended mth its accompany-
ing detail of hardships incident to the season, including the absence
of game and presence of snow in the mountains. At one time they
had wandered among the Blue Mountains, lost amid its canyons
and defiles east of the Grand Ronde Valley, for twenty days, nearly
frozen and constantly starved until they were at the verge of despair.
At length a Nez Perce chief was met who invited them to his lodge
some twelve miles further along the trail they were traveling, and
then galloped away. So great had been the strain upon the
Captain's system in sustaining these successive days of unnatural
exertion, that when the chief disappeared he sank upon the
ground and lay there like one dead. His companions tried in
FAILURE AT JOINT OCCUPATION BY THE AMERICANS. 203
vain to arouse liim. It was a useless effort, and they were forced to
camp by the trail until he awoke from his trance the next day and
was enabled to move on. They had hardly resumed their tedious
journey when some dozen Nez Perces rode up with fresh horses and
carried them in triumph to theii' village. Everywhere after this
they were kindly received by this hospitable people — fed, cared for
and guided on their way by them.
Bonneville and his two companions were kindly received at Fort
AValla AValla by Mr. P. C. Pambrun, who, with five or six men,
was in charge of that station at the mouth of the Walla Walla
River. This Hudson's Bay Company's representative was a courte-
ous, affable host, but when asked to sell the CajDtain supplies that
would enable his return to the Rocky Mountains, said: "That
worthy superintendent, who had extended all the genial rights of
hospitality, now suddenly assumed a withered-up aspect and
demeanor, and observed that, however he might feel disposed to
serve him personally, he felt bound by his duty to the Hudson's Bay
Company to do nothing which should facilitate or encourage the
visits of other traders among the Indians in that part of the country."
Bonneville remained at the fort but two days longer, for his desti-
tute condition, combined with the lateness in the season, rendered
it necessary for him to return immediately ; and he started on the
back trail with his Nez Perce guide, and finally reached the point of
general rendezvous for his various expeditions. This is a true state-
ment of the position assumed by the Hudson's Bay Company; its
agents would not themselves, nor would they permit the Indians
under their control to deal with or in any manner assist opposition
traders ; 1 nit that Bonneville traversed the country in safety ^\dth but
three companions, after the company was aware of his intention to
return and found a rival establishment on the Columbia, is convinc-
ing evidence that assassination was not one of its methods of over-
coming competition, however much such charges may be reiterated
by its enemies.
In July, 1834, Bonne\alle started on a second expedition to the
Columbia, with a formidable number of trappers and mountain
men, well equipped, and with an extensive stock of goods to traffic
with Indians. He stiU contemplated a restoration of American trade
in this country, and designed establishing a post for that purpose in
204 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
the Willamette Valley. This time he passed the Blue Mountains
by way of Grand Ronde Valley and the Umatilla River, and upon
his arrival at the mouth of that stream, was surprised to find the
natives shunning him. They ran from his men, hid themselves, and
when intercepted, refused to have anything to do with the Ameri-
cans. Not a skin, a horse, a dog, or a fish, could be obtained fi'om
them, having been warned by the Hudson's Bay Company not to
traffic with these new comers. It now seemed a question of imme-
diate evacuation or starvation, and Bonneville decided to abandon
his attempt at joint occupancy. Once more he turned his back upon
the Columbia and left the English company in undisputed possession
of the field.
A contemporaneous effort was made by Nathaniel J. Wyeth, a
Boston merchant. With eleven men who knew nothing of trapper-
life, he crossed the plains to Humboldt River, with Milton Sublette,
in 1832. From this point the twelve pushed north to Snake River,
and by way of that stream to Fort Vancouver, where they arrived
on the twenty-ninth of October. Mr. Wyeth had his whole fortune
invested in his enterprise, and had brought with him a large stock
of goods, such as were used in the Indian trade. He was received
with great hospitality by Dr. McLoughlin. The next spring he
left for the East, a financial banki'upt, only two of his followers
accompanying him. It does not appear that the com^^any's officers
contributed in any way to produce this result; but if they did not,
it was simply because it was unnecessary to do so. Had not natural
causes, the chief of which were the wrecking of his su23ply ship
which had been sent around Cape Horn, and his utter ignorance of
the business of fur trading, led to his failure, the company would
undoubtedly have protected its interests as it did upon his next
venture two years later. Arriving in Boston, Mr. Wyeth organized
" The Columbia River Fishing and Ti-ading Company," with a view
of continuing operations on the Pacific Coast under the same general
plan that had been outlined by Astor, adding, however, salmon fish-
ing to the fur trade. He dispatched the brig Mary Dacres for the
mouth of the Columbia, loaded with supplies and implements needed
in his proposed undertaking. She had on board also supplies for
the Methodist Mission, to be spoken of hereafter. With sixty ex-
perienced men, Mr. Wyeth himself started overland in 1834. Near
FAILURE AT JOINT OCCUPATION BY THE AMERICANS. 205
the headwaters of Snake Eiver he built Fort Hall, as an interior
trading post, the name being that of one of his partners. Here he
left twelve men and a stock of goods. He then pushed forward to
the Columbia and erected a fort on Sauvie's Island, at the mouth of
the Willamette River, which he called "Fort AVilliams," in honor
of another partner; and again the American flag waved over soil
west of the Rocky Mountains. The officers of the company again
received him with much hospitality, and though they continued to
treat him with courtesy, this did not prevent them fi'om taking the
steps necessary to protect the company's interests. Fort Boise was
established as an opposition to Fort Hall, and drew the bulk of the
trade of the Indians of Snake River. On the Columbia, AVyeth
found that the natives were so completely under the control of the
company that he could establish no business relations with tliem
whatever. In two years he was compelled to sell all his possessions,
including Fort Hall, to the rival company, and abandon this second
effort at joint occupation. To this result the American Fur Com-
pany and Rocky Mountain Fur Company largely contributed by
conduct towards Mr. Wyeth that was neither generous nor honor-
able, and it was finally, with a sense of gratification, that he sold
Fort Hall to the British Company, and thus gave them an impor-
tant post in the very heart of the trapping grounds of his unpatriotic
and unscrupulous countrymen.
Dr. McLoughlin's account of Mr. Wyeth's venture, as given in
the document previously spoken of, is as follows: —
In 1832, Mr. Nathaniel Wyeth, of Cambridge, near Boston, came across land
with a party of men, but as the vessel he expected to meet here with supplies was
wrecked on the way, he returned to the East with three (3) men. The remainder
joined the Willamette settlement and got supplies and were assisted by the Hud-
son's Bay Company's servants, and to be paid the same price for their wheat — that
is, three shillings sterling per bushel, and purchase their supplies at fifty per cent,
on prime cost.
In 1834, Mr. Wyeth returned with a fresh party, and met the vessel with supplies
here, and started with a large outfit for Fort Hall, which he had built on his way,
and in 1836, he abandoned the business and returned to the States, and those of his
men that remained in the country joined the settlements and were assisted as the
others on the same terms as the Hudson's Bay Company's servants, and in justice
to Mr. Wyeth, I have great pleasure to be able to state that as a rival in trade, I
alVays found him open, manly, frank and fair, and in short, in all his contracts, a
perfect gentleman and an honest man, doing all he could to support morality and
e ncouraging industry in the settlement.
206
HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
In 1835 the two rival American companies were consolidated as
" The American Fur Company," Bridger, Fontenelle and Dripps
being the leaders. The retirement of Bonneville, and the sale of
Fort Hall by Mr. Wyeth, left only the consolidated company and
a few "lone traders" to compete with the English corporation.
For a few years longer the struggle was maintained, but gradually
the Hudson's Bay Company absorbed the trade until the American
trappers, so far as organized effort was concerned, abandoned the
field.
CHAPTER XIV.
FOUNDATION AND PROGRESS OF THE MISSIONS.
Missionaries Introduce a New Element into the Oregon Question — The
Flatheads send Messengers to St. Lotiis to Procure a Bihle — Jason
Lee and others sent by the Methodist Board of Missions — They Locate
in the Willamette Yalley — Their Plan of OjMrations — Sickness at
the Mission and Hostility of the Lndians — Parker and Whitman
sent hy the American Board — Parker'^s Triumphal March — He Re-
turns Home and Publishes a Book^~Mr. and Mrs. Whitman — Whit-
man Takes a Cart as Far as Fort Boise — Missions Founded at
Waiilatjpti and Lapwai — Progress of the Missions of the American
Board — Mission Founded at The Dalles— Advent of the Catholics
— A Religious War at Once Begins — A Few Sample Incidents — Ff-
of the Two Forms of Worship upon the Natives.
THE opening wedge for American settlement and occupation of
Oregon, which was the new and decisive factor time intro-
duced into the Oregon Question, was the Protestant Missionaries.
In despaii' of coming to an amicable agreement, the plenipotentiaries
of England and the United States, in 1827, had continued indefi-
nitely the treaty of joint occupation, hoping that something would
turn up to put a new phase upon the question ; and in less than ten
years their expectations were fully realized, but in a manner little
dreamed of by the most astute of them all. Military posts were
thought of, emigrants were thought of, fur traders were thought of;
but no one seemed to have thought of the earnest and self-abnegat-
ing missionary — that is no one but the aborigines, whose rights
and preferences had not been considered by either party to this
long controversy.
From Lewis and Clarke the Indians of the Columbia first learned
of the white man's God. They were told that the Great Spirit wor-
208 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
sMped by their visitors had made of them a powerful nation, given
them Vjooks, guns, clothing, and a thousand things the red man did
not possess. Other white men who came later whetted their already
keen desire to learn about this powerful God, and possess that won-
derful book which he had given to these strange people. One tribe
was presented by some irreverent trappers with a well-thumbed
pack of cards, with the assurance that they were the bible for which
they longed; but the deception was a brief one. Finally, in 1832,
four (some authorities say five) Flathead Indians were delegated
by their tribe to proceed to St. Louis, which they believed to be
the great center of the white man's power, and procure this all-
powerful book and some one to teach them its contents. It was a
strange quest, and a stranger place in which to make it, for St.
Louis then overflowed with that turbulent and ungodly class that
in those early times swarmed along the western border of civiliza-
tion. The messengers were laughed at by the few to whom they
applied; and after two of their number had died in the city, the
others set out sorrowfully on their return, without having procured
the great book, and with their faith in its efficacy for good sadly
shaken by the scenes they had mtnessed. One of them died on
the way, yet their journey was not wholly fruitless; for their
lamentations were overheard one day by one who immediately
wrote to the missionary societies in the East that there was a wide
and ripe field for their labors in Oregon. The matter was taken in
hand by two organizations, the Methodist Board of Missions, and
the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, a
society supported by the Congregational, Presbj^erian and Dutch
Reformed denominations.
The Methodists were the first to take the field. Bev. Jason
Lee was given direction of the work. Mr. Lee was born in Canada,
of American parents, and was ordained to the ministry in the United
States; yet his American citizenship has been questioned by secta-
rian writers, who imagine that by doing so they gain for themselves
certain pioneer honors that are justly his due. His associates were
Bev. Daniel Lee, Cyrus Shepard and P. L. Edwards. When Na-
thaniel Wyeth made his second journey to the Columbia, in 1834,
as already related, this missionary party accompanied him. When
Wyeth stopped to build Fort Hall the missionaries left him and
FOUNDATION AND PROGEESS OF THE MISSIONS. 209
continued their journey witli a brigade of Hudson^s Bay Company
trappers, under A. K. McLeod and Thomas McKay. On the first
of September they reached Fort Walla Walla, a post the Hudson's
Bay Company had established on the Columbia at the mouth of
Walla Walla River, where the town of AVallula now stands. On
the fifteenth they landed from boats at the company's headquarters
at Vancouver. They were most cordially welcomed by Dr. Mc-
Loughlin, who entertained them with the greatest hospitality. It
had been theii' intention to locate east of the mountains, but the
Chief Factor persuaded them to found their establishment in the
Willamette Valley. It has been charged that his reasons for desir-
ing them to choose the latter place were that he might secure the
services of one. of them as teacher to children at the fort. If such
was the case his motive was far fi'om being an unworthy one; and he
did the Indians no wi^ong, since those on one side of the mountains
were as much in need of missionary labors as those on the opposite-
It was a fortunate thing for the United States that he did so, for
the mission became the center about which American settlers rallied
a few years later, and it became an important factor in wresting
Oregon from the grasp of Great Britain. On this subject McLough-
lin's document says: —
In 1834, Messrs. Jason and Daniel Lee, and Messrs. Walker and P. L. Edwards
came with Mr. Wyeth to establish a mission in the Flathead country. I observed
to them that it was too dangerous for them to establish a mission ;#<that to do good
to the Indians, they must establish themselves where they could collect them around
them; teach them to cultivate the ground and live more comfortably than they do
by hunting, and as they do this, teach them religion ; that the Willamette afforded
them a fine field, and that they ought to go there, and they would get the same
assistance as the settlers. They followed my advice and went to the Willamette,
and it is but justice to these pioneers to say that no men, in my opinion, could exert
themselves more zealously than they did till 1840, when they received a large rein-
forcement of forty (40) or more persons ; then the new-comers began to neglect their
duties, discord sprang up among them and the mission broke up.
The location chosen was on the banks of the Willamette, some
sixty miles above its mouth and ten below the site of the present
city of Salem. They began the erection of a log house, 32x18 feet,
and so eager were they to begin their labors that they took posses-
sion of it on the third of November in an uncompleted condition,
and received Indian pupils before the roof was finished. Theu^ re-
lations with the people at Vancouver were the most fi'iendly and
210 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
cordial. Twenty-one persons were baptized at the fort by Jason
Lee on the fourteenth of December, seventeen of them children;
and he received a donation of twenty dollars to aid in his mission-
ary work. They were viewed by the officers of the company solely
in their character as missionaries, their nationality and creed not
l)eing considered; and as such they received hospitable treatment
and hearty encouragement in a woi'k which was deemed beneficial.
They proposed not only to teach religion to the Indians, but to
teach them to till the soil and to do other useful and productive
labor, })y means of which their moral, mental and physical condi-
tion might l)e elevated. Realizing that the plastic mind of youth
is the easiest moulded, they opened a school for children, and fur-
nished them a house, where they could learn to read, worship God
and till the soil. To do this required food for their support; and
it became necessary for them to embark in farming in order to pro-
duce it. This they began the following spring, and thetr first
harvest consisted of two hundred and fifty bushels of potatoes and
a quantity of wheat, barley, oats and peas. To this they added six
barrels of salmon, procured from the Indians. In September, one
year after their arrival, the first of a series of misfortunes overtook
them. An intermittent fever became prevalent, and fom* of the
children died. The Indians had been watching their movements
with considerable interest, and these sad occm-rences had a powerfid
effect upon their superstitious natures, causing them to view with
distrust the place where the Great Spirit Avas displaying his disap-
proval by causing the death of their children. One Indian, who
had lost a little brother, paid the mission a visit A\nth the avowed
intention of killing Daniel Lee and Cyrus Shepard, but was dis-
suaded from doing so by a companion. He gave vent to his wrath
against the "white medicines" by crossing the river and killing
several of his own race, presumably his wife's relations. During
the fall an addition, 16x32 feet, was built to the mission house, and
the close of the year found them comfortably housed, with a suffi-
cient supply of pi'ovisions and only ten pupils under their chai'ge,
while the Indians generally entertained serious doubts of the ad-
vantage of having them there at all.
The American Board dispatched Rev. Samuel Parker and Dr.
Marcus Whitmau in the spring of 188.5, as a pioneer committee to
FOUNDATION AND PR0C4KESS OY THE MISSIONS. 211
examine the field and select suitable locations for missionary work
They joined a party of the American Fur Company, and ac-
companied them to the grand rendezvous on Green River, where
they encountered a band of Nez Perce Indians who had come across
the mountains to trade with the trappers, with whom the tribe was
on terms of warmest friendship. Among the Nez Perces was a
young chief who was a most ardent fi-iend of the Americans. He
possessed great eloquence in debate, and was named "Lawyer" by
the whites, because of his forensic efPorts. With this chief the
missionaries had a consultation, and resolved to establish at least
two missions. Accordingly it was agreed that Dr. Parker would
continue the journey across the continent for the purpose of explora-
tion, so that suitable locations might be selected; he was then to
leave a letter of advice with the Nez Perces to be given to Whit-
man the next year, and return home by sea. This was decided
upon because the peculiar characteristics of the two men were such
as to prevent cordial co-operation. Dr. Whitman was the very soul
of energy and devotion to duty, caring nothing foi- appearances or
the opinion of others if they stood between him and the object to
which he had devoted his life; while Dr. Parker seems to have
been a self-important man to whom a little notoriety was extremely
soothing. Dr. Whitman, accompanied by two young Nez Perces,
returned to the East to procure the necessary assistance for the two
missions to be founded.
Dr. Parker resumed his journey westward on the twenty-second
of August, and when he entered the Nez Perce country received
such an ovation fi-om the delighted Indians as must have gratified
his vanity in the highest degree. No white man before or since
was ever received by the natives of the Columbia with such cordial-
ity and ceremonious distinction as greeted Mr. Parker on his way
to Fort Walla Walla. His approach to an Indian village was the
occasion of general display of savage grandeur and hospitality.
Here was one who had come to tell them of that unseen and myste-
rious power which had done so many wonderful things for the
white man; and they hoped now to learn how to worship that Great
Spirit of whom they had heard their first white visitors speak, and
who, they hoped, might smile upon them and make them wise and
powerful. With this thought they received the missionary ever}'-
212 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
where with outstretched arms and demonstrations of unbounded
joy. He held religious services in several places, and to a degree
inducted his eager neophytes into the mysteries of the white man's
religion. He reached Fort Walla Walla on the fifth of October,
receiving a cordial welcome fi'om P. C. Pambrun, the gentleman in
charge. A few days later he passed down the Columbia in a boat,
and during the winter enjoyed the hospitalities of Dr. McLoughlin
at Vancouver. In the spring he returned east of the mountains and
made a journey through the Nez Perce, Spokane and Colville
countries, after which he embarked from Vancouver for the Sand-
wich Islands, and thence for home, arriving in 1837. He soon after
published an account of his travels, which was of special value at
that time because of the deep interest the people were beginning to
take in the Oregon Question.
Dr. Whitman, with his two Indian companions, reached Rush-
ville, N. Y., his home, late on Satui'day night, and his presence
there, instead of in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, was first
known when he walked quietly into chiu'ch the next morning with
his copper-hued friends, his mother starting up witn a cry of as-
tonishment and joy. During the winter all his an-angements were
made, including his marriage in February, 1836, with Miss Nar-
cissa Prentiss, daughter of Stephen H. Prentiss. Mrs. Whitman
was a woman of refined nature, rare accomplishments of voice and
manner, of commanding presence, firm in purpose and an enthu-
siast in the line of her accepted duty. In this cause her deepest
sympathies had been enlisted, and she cheerfully yielded all her
fair prospects among friends and kindred, and devoted her life to
isolation in a country so far away that the very name conveyed to
the mind a sense of loneliness and mystery, and where a mai-tyr's
grave was awaiting her. She was born at Pittsburg, N. Y., March
14, 1808, and was therefore but thirty -nine years of age when
merciless and ingrate hands crovraed with her death the sacrifice of
her life. Marcus Whitman, M. D., was born September 4, 1802,
at Rushville, N. Y., and at the age of forty -five offered up his life
on the altar of duty. These two, accompanied by Rev. H. H.
Spalding and wife, a lady of much firmness of character and devo-
tion to duty, and W. H. Gray, set out on their .westward journey
under the escort of a party of the American Fur Company. With
FOUNDATION AND PKOGRESS OF THE MISSIONS. 213
the party were Major Pilclier, an independent trader previously
alluded to, and Sir William Drummond, an English nobleman
traveling under the alias of " Captain Stewart " and accompanied
by a companion and thi^ee servants. The missionary party took with
them three wagons, eight mules, twelve horses and sixteen cowsj,
besides farming utensils, blacksmith and carpenter tools, seeds,
clothing, etc., to enable them to become self-supporting. At Fort
Laramie all the wagons but one were abandoned, but Whitman in-
sisted upon taking this one for the ladies to ride in ; the trappers also
concluded to try the experiment of wheels in the mountains, and
safely took a small cart to the grand rendezvous on Green Kiver.
Here the missionaries met Nathaniel J. Wyeth on his return home
from his second unfortunate effort to test the virtues of joint occu-
pation in Oregon, and they were by him introduced to McKay and
McLeod, the two Hudson's Bay Company agents who had escorted
Jason Lee two years before, and who were about to return to Van-
couver from a trapping and trading tour. Notwithstanding the
urgent objection of the trappers and their assurances that it was
impossible for a wagon to pass thi'ough the mountains, Whitman
insisted upon taking the vehicle along; but when he reached Fort
Hall he was compelled to reduce it to two wheels, and at Fort Boise
they insisted upon an entire abandonment of it. Nevertheless, he
had demonstrated that wagons could cross the Rocky Mountains,
and was satisfied that the remainder of the route presented no more
formidable obstacles. They were met on the route by a band of
Nez Perces who had been informed in the spring by Dr. Parker of
their expected coining, and their reception was only less impressive
than had been that of their herald, whose failure to do anything for
them had served somewhat to cool the ardor which his appearance
had raised to fever heat. Mr. Pambrun gave them a hearty wel-
come to Fort Walla Walla on the second of September, which was
repeated by Dr. McLoughlin a few days later when they landed
from the company's boats at Fort Vancouver.
Leaving the ladies to enjoy the hospitalities of the foi-t, the three
gentlemen returned to Walla Walla, and, with the aid of Mr. Pam-
brun, sought for suitable locations for their proposed missions. It
was decided to locate one among the Cayuses and the other among
the Nez Perces. The former was located at Waiilatpu, on the
214 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
Walla WaUa River, six miles west of the present city of Walla
AValla, and was taken charge of by Mr. and Mrs. Whitman. This
was known as the " Waiilatpu," or " WTiitman, Mission," the former
name signifying "the people," being the proper title of the Caynse
tribe. Mr. and Mrs. Spalding founded the " Lapwai Mission " among
the Nez Perces, at a place on the Clearwater River a few miles frt>m
the site of Lewiston, Idaho. Mr. Gray rendered material aid in
constructing the two posts, and assisted the two principals in their
missionary labors.
The next year, it being deemed advisable to extend the field of
their o]3erations, Mr. Gray returned East, to procure the necessary
means and additional aid to accomplish that purpose. He was
accompanied l)y four Nez Perces, who took a large band of horses
with them, the price of which they intended to contribute to the
Mission fund. On the Platte River the party was attacked by Sioux
Indians, their horses stolen and the four Nez Perces killed, Mr.
Gray barely escaping mth his life. He returned in 1838, Avith Rev.
E. Walker and \\-ife. Rev. Gushing Eells and wife, Rev. A. B. Smith,
Mrs. Gray, and Cornelius Rogers. With the party came Captain
John A. Sutter, the honored pioneer of the Sacramento Valley.
They brought with them fourteen cows of a superior bi'eed, but at
Fort Hall were persuaded to leave them and accept in their place
an order for a similar number to be delivered them by the agent of
the Hudson's Bay Company when they reached their destination.
They failed to fully appreciate the beauties of this transaction until
after their arrival at the Whitman Mission in September, and wit-
nessed the efforts of an ex23ert vaquero to catch some of the wild
heifers roaming with the herds belonging to the company.
The following brief and accurate account of the Missions of the
American Board is taken fi'om Rev. Myron Eells' book, entitled
"Indian Missions," and carries them up to the time when the Amer-
ican settlers organized a government in Oregon, fi-om which time
they will only be considered in connection mth concurrent events.
Mr. Eells says: —
On the arrival of this mission reinforcement, Mr. Gray was associated with Mr.
Spalding. Mr. Smith was first stationed with Dr. Whitman, but the next year he
opened a new station at Kamiah, sixty miles from Lapwai, among the Nez Perces,
and Messrs. Walker and Eells likewise began another station among the Spokanes,
at Tshimakain, six miles north of the Spokane River, in the spring of 1839. The
P^OUNDAtlON AN^D PROGRESS OF THE MISSIONS. 215
first few years of the mission were quite encouraging. Owing partly to tlie novelty,
the Indians seemed very anxious to labor, to learn at school, and to receive religious
instruction. In 1887, as soon as a school was oj^ened at Lapwai, Mr. ISj^alding wrote
that a hundred, both old and young, were in attendance. As soon as one had
learned something more than the others, they would gather around him, while he
would become their teacher. In 1839 one hundred and fifty children, and as many
more adults, were in school. Similar interest was shown in religious instruction.
They sometimes spent whole nights in repeating over and over what they had but
partly learned at a religious service. Two years later 1,00(1 to 2,000 gathered for
religious instruction. Then 2,000 made a public confession of sin, and promised to
serve God. Many of them evidently did so with imperfect ideas of what they were
doing, yet not a few were believed to give evidence of conversion. Among the
Cayuses, also, more were ready to attend school than the mission family could sup-
ply with books, or had ability to teach. Morning and evening worship was main-
tained in all the principal lodges, and a confession of sin was made somewhat
similar to that among the Nez Perces. For a time, when Dr. Whitman or Mr.
Spalding traveled through the country, they were followed by hundreds of Indians,
eager to see them and hear Bible truths at night. They had a strong desire for hoes
and other agricultural implements, and were willing to part with any i^roperty they
had, in order to obtain them, even bringing their rifles to be manufactured into
such articles. From eighty to one hundred families planted fields near Mr. Spald-
ing, and many near Dr. Whitman raised enough provisions for a comfortable sup-
ply for their families.
In 1838 Mr. Spalding reported that his field produced 2,000 bushels of potatoes,
besides wheat and other articles. In the year 1841 a saw and grist mill were erected
among the Nez Perces, and a grist mill among the Cayuses. At Kamiah a large
part of the Indians gave up their roving habits for a time, and remained most of
the year at home, and the Spokanes received Messrs. Walker and Eells with glad-
ness. In 1837 a church was organized, and in September, 1838, the first Indian was
received into it ; though, in July previous, two Indian girls, who afterwards died in
Mr, Spalding's family, gave evidence of conversion, and were baptized as the first
fruits of the work. In November, 1839, Joseph and Timothy, Nez Perces Indians,
were admitted to the church. In 1840 Mr. Eells reported a school of eighty scholars.
In 1839 the mission received a donation from Rev. H. Bingham's church, at Hono-
lulu, Sandwich Islands, of a small printing press, with types, furniture, paper, and
other things, of the value of |4o0. The same church had, the year before, sent
eighty dollars in money and ten bushels of salt to the Oregon mission. Mr. E. O.
Hall, a printer at the Sandwich Islands, on account of the health of his wife, came
with the press, and the first book printed west of the Rocky Mountains, so far as
known, was issued that fall in the Nez Perces language. This added new interest
to the school, and other books in the same language, and one in that of the Spo-
kanes, followed. Mr. and Mrs. Hall remained until the spring of 1840, when they
returned to the Sandwich Islands.
But the novelty gradually wore oflT, and discouragements began. The natural
heart naturally resisted the truths of the Bible, and some of the Spokane chiefs led
in the opposition. In 1838 two Roman Catholic priests arrived, spoke against the
missionaries, and persuaded some of the Cayuses to be baptized by them. Others
afterwards came, established a mission among them, and one of the Roman Catholic
Indians instigated some others of the tribe to treat Dr. Whitman and Mr. Gray
with much insolence and abuse, to destroy some property, and to demand payment
for the land, timber, fuel and water which had been used. But by moderation and
firmness, and with the aid of the Hudson's Bay Company, the Indians afterwards
216 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY,
admitted their guilt, and peace was apparently restored. In 1841, Mr. Smith, after
suffering no little annoyance from the savage manners of the Nez Perces, o:i
account of the failure of his own and his wife's health [he had located among Ellis'
baud of Nez Perces in 1839, and the following year was prevented from cultivating
any ground under pain of death, at the command of Ellis himself], left that mission
and Oregon, and joined the mission at the Sandwich Islands. He subsequently
returned to the Eastern States. In his opinion the Indians were pharisaical, and
desired to make money out of the missionaries.
By February, 1842, affairs seemed so discouraging that the Board of Missions
concluded to give iip the stations among the Cayuses and Nez Perces, and Rev. J.
D. Paris and Mr. W. H. Rice, who had been sent to the mission by the way of Cape
Horn and the Sandwich Islands, having reached the latter place, were induced to
remain there temporarily, an arrangement which was afterwards made permanent
by the Board at Boston. The roving habits of the Indians, and the decrease in the
attendance on the schools, increased the trials. Hence, Messrs. Spalding and Gray
were to return East, and Dr. Whitman was to join the Spokane Mission. In the
fall of 1842, however, affairs took a more favorable turn : the Spokane Indians
showed more though tfulness and conscientiousness ; the school atLapwai increased
to an average of eighty, and afterwards to over 200; 1,000 Nez Perces attended a
series of meetings for nine or ten days, seven of whom were examined for admission
to the church ; the Cayuse Sabbath congregations varied in the spring from 200 to
400, in the fall from 50 to 200, and less during the rest of the year. The two Nez
Perces received into the church four years previous, and some others of whom hope
was entertained, stood well as Christian workers ; and there was abundant evidence
that the truth was exerting a restraining influence over most of the Indians. Some
of them were becoming more settled, so that 50 Cayuse and 150 Nez Perces families
cultivated from a quarter of an acre to five acres each ; one Nez Perces chief raised
176 bushels of peas, 100 of corn, and 300 of potatoes. Mrs. Spalding had taught a
few of the Nez Perces women to knit, card, spin, and weave, and a large number to
sew.
****■)«■*
It was also becoming evident that more Americans were soon to come into the
territory, and they would need something other than Roman Catholic preaching.
All these things determined the missionaries in the fall of 1842, to continue all the
stations, notwithstanding the instructions received from the Board at Boston, until
the matter could again be reconsidered. These, and other considerations relating to
the possession of the country, to which reference will afterwards be made, rendered
it expedient, in the opinion of the mission, for Dr. Whitman to return East. He
did so, leaving Walla Walla October 3d, 1842, and reaching Boston March 30th,
1843. He made such representations that the Board ratified the action of the mis-
sion, in continuing all the stations. After transacting important business at Wash-
ington, and visiting his friends, he returned to Oregon. He left the western
frontiers of Missouri, May 31st, and after a shoi't time overtook a company of about
875 emigrants, some of whom, when he was in the East, he had promised to aid,
should they determine to go to Oregon. This journey was successfully made, and
the first train of emigrant wagons rolled through to the Columbia River,
The Metliodist mission, founded by Jason Lee in the Willamette
Valley, and which had met with such misfortune by sickness, was
reinforced by Elijah White and wife, Alanson Beers and wife, W.
H, Willson, Annie M, Pitman, Susan Downing and Elvira Johnson,
FOUNDATION AND PEOGRESS OF THE MISSIONS. 217
who sailed from Boston in July, 1836, and reached their destination
the follomng May. The scourge of fever still afflicted the mission,
and it consequently bore ill repute among the Indians of the Wil-
lamette, in spite of the most earnest and conscientious efforts of Mr.
Lee and his associates to win the good will of those for whose ben-
efit they had made so great a sacrifice. In the fall of 1837 Rev.
David Leslie, Rev. H. K. W. Perkins and Margaret Smith were
added to their force of missionary laborers. Their field of opera-
tions was enlarged in the spring of 1838 by the establishment of
a mission at The Dalles, under the charge of Daniel Lee and H. K.
W. Perkins. To do this required money, if they would continue
their plan of operations. The Protestant method of working em-
braced the instruction of the Indian in the methods of procuring
food and clothing by his own intelligent effort, so that he might
not experience those alternate seasons of feasting and famine to
which he was subjected when relying solely upon the products of
nature. They sought, 'also, to destroy his roving habits by trans-
forming him fi'om a hunter to a farmer. Jason Lee accordingly
started East to procure the necessary financial aid, accompanied by
P. L. Edwards, F. Y. Ewing and two Indian boys. During his
absence Mrs. Lee died, also Cyrus Shepard, who was teaching
school at the Willamette Mission. Mr. Lee retm-ned in 1840 with
a party of forty -eight persons, eight of them being clergymen, and
nineteen ladies. From this time the history of the missions be-
comes so closely interwoven with that of the settlements, that no
further effort will be made to keep it distinct.
A new element was introduced into the mission field in 1838, in
the form of two zealous Catholic priests. Rev. Francis N. Blanchet
and Rev. Modest Demers came overland from Montreal with the
regular express of the Hudson's Bay Company, reaching Vancouver
on the twenty-fourth of November, 1838, and having baptized fifty-
three persons while voyaging down the Columbia. They came pre-
pared to stay, and not without having received a cordial invitation.
The servants of the Hudson's Bay Company, such, at least, as were of
Canadian descent, had a natural leaning toward the Catholic church,
which had been the one to administer to the religious wants of them-
selves and parents, whenever they had been fortunate enough to come
within the radius of Christian worship. When the Protestant mis-
218 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
sionaries appeared it caused them to long for the presence of the
pious fathers; not with that insatiable longing which has its source
in the deepest fountains of our nature; they simply preferred, in
case they were to enjoy religious privileges at all, to have those
with w^hich they most naturally sympathized. Not only did they
feel thus themselves, but they told the Indians that there were
other and better missionaries than those who had settled amongst
them, men who wore long black gowns and who would teach them
the true religion. This created a natural desire among the tribes
to have these holy men come among them, a desire shared by the
officers of the comj)any, who naturally preferred that religion which
would meet with the most favor among their servants and the In-
dians, and which was taught by subjects of Great Britain. This
was the reason why the society of Montreal sent out Fathers Blan-
chet and Demers, and why the advent of the " Black Gowns," as
they were called by the Indians to distinguish them fi^om the Prot-
estants, was not unexpected by the natives.
. The coming of Catholics was tlie signal for the commencement
of a contest for spii'itual control of the Indians, whose terrible
results will be seen as this narrative progresses. For this both
parties to the controversy were to blame. They were all firmly set
in their religious convictions, and intolerant of opposing or differing
opinions to the highest degree. Embued by the loftiest of motives
themselves, they did not possess sufficient charity or liberality to
ascribe equally exalted pm'poses to their opponents. This spirit is
exhibited to the present day in tlie rancorous ^vritings of certain
participants on either side, in which they do not hesitate to charge
upon their adversaries crimes for which the scafPold and peniten-
tiary are the only adequate penalty; or motives and conduct, which,
being proven, would cause them to be shunned and despised by
every nonorable man. It is h\it a continuation of that sectarian
rivalry, that battle of religious creeds, which has existed since first
primitive man began to worship his shadow as a manifestation of
some intangible and mysterious power, and which has caused so
much bloodshed, misery and horror in the world, and will not end
until man judges his fellow man more by his motives and deeds,
and less by his purely religious opinions.
A few instances will suffice to show the existence of this sj^irit
I
FOUNDATION AND PROGEESS OF THE MISSIONS. 219
on both sides — a determiuation to impress upon the Indians the fact
that theii- particular creed and form of worship were the only true
and potent ones, and that all others were l)oth false and harmful.
The Catholics were the chief aggressors in this respect, the more
energetic and crafty in undermining their opponents, but it was not
entirely lacking with the other side ; and it must be admitted that
in the matter of subsequent acrimonious writings, the Protestants
lead the van. The first gun was fired and the nature of the cam-
paign outlined by Dr. Parker when he first entered the country,
and long before the Catholics appeared in the field. At the mouth
of the Alpowa Creek, on Snake River, he came upon a burial party
of the Nez Perces, who " had prepared a cross to set up at the grave,"
and because the symbol of the crucifixion offended his sight, and he
feared it would make, as he expresses it, " a stepping-stone to idol-
atry," he took " the cross the Indians had prepared and broke it in
pieces." As the Catholics had not yet appeared in the field, they
consequently "didn't know they were hit"; and this incident is of
interest only to show the spirit of religious intolerance which held
possession of Dr. Parker, and which subsequent events proved to
also pervade his successors. When the Catholics appeared they
found the Protestants well entrenched, and they had either to attack
them there or enter new fields. They did both. Their plan of
operations is outlined by Father Blanchet, who, in after years, wi'ote
thus of the duties of the missionary priests : —
They were to warn their flocks against the dangers of seduction, to destroy the
false impression already received, to enlighten and confirm the faith of the waver-
ing and deceived consciences, to bring back to the practice of religion and virtue all
of them who had forsaken them for long years, or who, raised in infldelity, had
never known nor practiced any of them. * * * In a word, they were to run
after thesheep wh6n they were in danger. Hence their passing so often from one
post to another— for neither the white people nor the Indians claimed their assist-
ance in vain. And it was enough for them to hear that some false prophet (mean-
ing a Protestant missionary) had penetrated into a place, or intended visiting some
locality, to induce the missionaries to go there immediately, to defend the faith and
prevent error from propagating itself.
Here is a direct statement horn the Archbishop at the head of
the church, that it was the Catholic plan to counteract the influence
of the Protestants where they had abeady located missions, as well
as to hasten to any new point they might select in order to prevent
the founding: of others. The first overt act of this kind was com-
220 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
mitted at Nesqually, only a few months after theii' arrival. Rev.
Blanchet says: —
The first mission to Nesqually was made by Father Demers, who celebrated the
first mass in the fort on April 22, [1839], the day after he arrived. His visit at such
a time was forced upon him by the establishment of a Methodist mission for the
Indians. * * * After having given orders to build a chapel, and said mass out-
side of the fort, he parted with them, blessing the Lord for the success of his mis-
sion among the whites and Indians, and reached Cowlitz on Monday, the thirtieth,
with the conviction that his mission at Nesqually had left a very feeble chance for
a Methodist mission there.
The priests introduced a novelty in the shape of a picture by
some ingenious artist. It was a representation of a large tree, with
many branches, and the different Protestant sects were shown as
ascending the trunk and going out upon the various branches, from
which they dropped into a lire, the blaze being fed by a priest with
the heretical books of his roasting victims. This tickled the Indians
immensely, and among the JSTez Perces it seemed about to capture
the whole tribe. As an offset to this, Mr. Spalding had his wife
paint a number of illustrations of j^rominent Bible events, and this
colored panorama soon crowded the Catholic cartoon from the field.
Thus was the contest waged for several years. In 1841, the Cas-
cades Indians were won away from the The Dalles Mission in spite
of Mr. Waller's strenuous efforts to hold them. This same Mr.
Waller gave expression to his feelings on doctrinal points by cutting
down a cross erected by the Catholics at Clackamas village.
There was one thing which gave the Catholics a decided advan-
tage among the natives — the use of symbols and ceremonies. Mr.
Blanchet says: "The sight of the altar, vestments, sacred vessels,
and great ceremonies, were drawing theii* attention a great deal more
than the cold, unavailable and long lay services of Brother Waller."
These were more akin to their own ideas of religion than the simple
services of the Protestants. The mystery was fascinating to them,
and they preferred to see the priests "make medicine" to hearing
so much " wa-wa " from the ministers. By thus working upon the
superstitious nature of the savages, and making no effort to suddenly
change their old habits and time-honored customs, the Catholics
gained a firm hold upon them, and were thus able, gradually, to
bring about the desired change. The Protestants, on the contrary,
endeavored to accomplish too much at once, and having no censers
FOUNDATION AND PKOGEESS OF THE MISSIONS. 221
to swing, or imposing vestments to wear, could gain but slight
influence over the natives when their opponents were about. There
was also another distinction the Indians recognized, and one which
gradually led them to entertain a spirit of bitterness and hos-
tility against the Protestants. This was their affiliation with the
American settlers, whose presence was highly distasteful to the
Indians, the reasons for which will be developed as the narrative
progresses.
CHAPTER XV.
AMERICAN EMIGRANTS ORGANIZE A PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT.
Early Advocates of Oregon Emigration — Efforts of Hall J. Kelley —
The American Society for the Settlement of Oregon Territory — It
Memorializes Congress and Advertises fur Emigrants — Wyeth, Kelley
and Ewing Young come to Oregon — Earliest American Settlers —
MGLoughlin\s Aeconnt of Settlement of French Prairie — The Wil-
lamette Cattle Company — Population of Oregon in ISlfi — First
Effort at a Government — Settlement at Willamette Falls — Radical
Change in the Policy of the Hudson- s Bay Company as Regards Set-
tlers— The Company^ s Deep Laid Plan — Attitude of the Company
audits Chief Representative — Dr. McLoughlin Considered — Reasons
for the Bitter Feelings Entertained hy some Americans — Dr. Mc-
Loughlin's Statement of His Conduct and the Treatment Received
from both English and Americans — A had Showing for the Grati-
tude of some Americans — Classification of the Population as Regards
Interests — Reasons for DesiHng a Government — A Petition Sent to
Congress in ISJfi — First Meeting to Form a Government — Death of
Ewing Young Leads to the Organization of a Government — The
Officers Elected — Failure to Form a Constitution — The Wilkes Ex-
pedition— The Wolf Meeting — The First Legislative Committee —
Organization of the Provisional Government — The First Officers — ■
Condition of the Missions — Antagonism of the Indians to Ameri-
can Settlers — Dr. White Induces the Nez Perces, Wascopums and
Cayuses to Adopt a Code of Laws.
TO the missionaries belongs the credit of opening the route to
Oregon and encouraging that large emigration of hardy pio-
neers of the Mississippi Valley which was the element to finally
decide the Oregon Question in favor of the United States. This
was not their object when tliey left their Eastern homes, but was
simply the natural sequence of events. Emigration to Oregon was
AMERICANS ORGANIZE A PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT. 223
considered and advocated long before there was any thought of
founding missions, but it was deemed impracticable, and remained to
be so considered until the missionaries and their wives demonstrated
that the intervening mountains and deserts presented no barrier
w^hich might not l^e overcome even by delicate ladies. It then be-
came but a matter of time, not a question of possibility, when emi-
grants should beat a well-worn trail to Oregon.
The first recorded instance of an effort to induce emigration to
seek the far distant coast of Oregon, was in 1817, when Hall J.
Kelley, of Boston, advocated the immediate occupation of the coun-
try in dispute by American settlers. At that time the United States
was making her first genuine effort to regain possession of the Col-
umbia, and was negotiating with Great Britain on the question of
the restoration of Fort George, or Astoria. Mr. Kelley became an
enthusiast upon the subject, and continued his exertions throughout
the subsequent years of diplomatic negotiation. In 1829 he organ-
ized a company which was incorporated by the Legislature of Mas-
sachusetts as " The American Society for the settlement of the Oregon
Territory." This society presented a memorial to Congress in 1831,
setting forth that they were " engaged in the work of opening to a
civilized and virtuous population that part of Western America
called Oregon.'' Among other statements, the memorialists said:
" They are convinced that if the country should be settled under the
auspices of the United States of America, from such of her worthy
sons who have drunk the spirit of those civil and religious institu-
tions which constitute the li^dng fountain and the very perennial
source of her national prosperity, great benefits must result to man-
kind. They believe that there the skillful and persevering hand of
industry might be employed with unparalleled advantage; that
there science and the arts, the invaluable privilege of a free and
liberal government, and the refinement and ordinances of Chris-
tianity, diffusing each its blessing, would harmoniously unite in
ameliorating the moral condition of the Indians, in promoting the
comfort and happiness of the settlers, and in augmenting the wealth
and power of the Rei^ublic." They further stated "that the couu-
try in question is the most valuable of all the unoccupied portions
of the earth," and they believed Providence designed it ".to be the
i-esidence of a people whose singular advantages will give them un-
224 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
exampled power and prosperity." They continued: " That these
things * * * have settled in the policy of the British
nation the determined purpose of possessing and enjoying the
country as their own, and have induced theii* Parliament to confer
on the Hudson's Bay Company chartered privileges for occupying
with their settlements the fertile banks of the Columbia.. * * *
Already have they flourishing towns, strong fortifications and culti-
vated fields. * * * Their largest town is Vancouver,
which is situated on a beautiful plain, in the region of tide water,
on the northern bank of the Columbia. •k- * * Every-
thing, either in the organization of the government, or in the busy
and various operations of the settlements of this place, at Walla
Walla, at Fort Colville and at DeFuca, indicate the intention of the
English to colonize the country. Now, therefore, your memorial-
ists, in behalf of a large number of the citizens of the United States,
would respectfully ask Congress to aid them in carrying into opera-
tion the great purposes of their institution ; to grant them troops,
artillery, military arms and munitions of war for the security of the
contemplated settlement; to incorporate their society with the
power to extinguish the Indian title to such tracts and extent of
territory, at the mouth of the Columbia and the junction of the
Multnomah with the Columbia, as may be adequate to the lauda-
ble objects and pursuits of the settlers; and with such other powers,
rights and immunities as may be at least equal and concurrent to
those given by Parliament to the Hudson's Bay Company ; and such
as are not repugnant to the stipulations of the convention, made
between Great Britain and the United States, wherein it was agreed
that any country on the Northwest coast of America, to be westward
of the Rocky Mountains, should be free and open to the citizens and
subjects of the two powers, for a term of years; and to gi*ant them
such other rights and privileges as may contribute to the means of
establishing a respectable and prosperous community."
Congress did not see fit to encourage this scheme of coloniza-
tion; and it may well be said that, had Congress been relied upon,
Oregon would inevitably have become a dependency of Great Brit-
ain. That body of concentrated national wisdom lagged several
years in the rear of the line of progress, and it was only by constant
effort that through it the people were enabled to have theu- victories
AMERICANS ORGANIZE A PROVISIONAL (TOVEH^ME^•T. 225
finally recognized and ratified. This halting and dilatory conduct
of the national legislatui-e placed the acquisition of Oregon in con-
stant jeopardy. The society, however, which had constituted Mr.
Kelley its general agent, continued its efforts despite the supineness
of Congress. In 1831 a pamphlet was published entitled — "A
general circular to all persons of good character who wish to emi-
grate to Oregon Territory." The region covered by that designa-
tion is defined in the head lines and opening paragraph, which
read: " Oregon Settlement. — To be commenced in the spring of
1832 on the delightful and fertile banks of the Columbia River.
It has been for many years in serious contemplation to settle with
a free and enlightened but redundant population from the Amer-
ican Republic that poi'tion of her territory, called Oregon, bound-
ing on the Pacific Ocean and lying between ,the forty-second and
forty-ninth parallels of N. latitude." It was well known by every
intelligent man that the ITnited States claimed as far north as the
Russian l)oundary at fift\'-four-forty, but that forty-nine had been
offered as a compromise line ; and it is probable that the society
thus defined Oregon within the limits generally believed at that
time it would eventually assume. The cry, " fifty -four -forty -or -
fight," had not then been heard, nor had the people as yet been
aroused to such a pitch of interest in this subject. That was re-
served for the time when negotiations were again resumed, prior to
the settlement of the question in 1846. The pamphlet gave the
names of thirtv'- seven agents of the society, to whom persons de-
siring to emigrate should make application for proper certificates
and full information; and these agents were located at various
points throughout the Union. One of these was Nathaniel J. Wy-
eth, whose unfortunate fur and salmon ventures on the Columbia
have been related. It was arranged for the expedition to start fi'om
St. Louis in March, 1 832, with a train of wagons and a good supply
of stock. A town was to be laid out at the junction of the Co-
lumbia and Multnomah, and each emigrant was to receive a town
lot and a farm, also, a lot in a town at the mouth of the Columbia,
these places being already platted on paper. The failure of Con-
gress to take any action in the matter ended the colonization scheme
for that year. Mr. Wyeth, it will be remembered, crossed the
country with a small party of Boston men, and returned the next
226 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
year. He again visited the Columbia in 1834, accompanied by Ja-
son Lee's party of missionaries. Mr. Kelley had undertaken to
send a ship loaded with supplies to the Columbia, but unsuccess-
fully. He then endeavored to open a route of trade tkrough Mex-
ico; but in that country the revenue officers pounced upon his
goods and confiscated the gi'eater portion of them. He still perse-
vered, and falling in with Ewing Young, the independent trader
whose operations on the coast have been related, persuaded him
and several others to accompany him to Oregon. They reached
Vancouver October 15, 1834. Mr. Kelley's health failed him, and
he departed for home the following March, ha^dng lost $30,000 in
his efforts to colonize Oi'egon.
Mr. Young, and others who had come with Mr. Kelley, or with
AVyeth's party, remained after the departure of those gentlemen^ — -
among them were James A. O'Neil, T. J. Hubbard, Courtney M.
Walker and Solomon Smith. There were also two men of French
descent — Joseph Gervais and Etinne Lucier — who had come out
with AVilson G. Hunt's party, and whose sympathies were Ameri-
can. All told, aside from the missionaries, there were about twenty-
five men in Oregon wlio were favorable to the United States, most
of them being mountaineers with Indian wives. Four of the inde-
pendent settlers were John Turner, George Gay, John AVoodworth
and Dr. Bailey, the survivors of a party of nine, which left Califor-
nia in the summer of 1835 for Oregon. The others were Daniel
Miller, Saunders, an Irishman called " Big Tom," a man whose
name is unknown, and a scj^uaw. Turner was one of the survivors
of the Umpqua massacre of 1828. The incidents attending their
arrival are thus related by Hon. J. W. Nesmith, who had them fi'om
the lips of the survivors: —
The party had forty-seven head of good horses and a complete outtit for trapping.
About the middle of June, 1835, the party encamped for the night near a place
known as "The Point of Rocks," on the south bank of Rogue River. Early the
next morning the Indians commenced dropping into camp, a few at a time. Gay
was on guard, and not liking the appearance of the Indians, awoke Turner, who
was the leader of the party, and the latter conversed with the savages through his
squaw, who, spoke Chinook. Turner concluded that there was no harm to be
apprehended from their dusky visitors, and, forgetting the fearful massacre which
he so narrowly escaped with Smith's party seven years before, near the Umpqua,
the party became careless. In the meantime, some four or five hundred Indians
had assembled in and about the camp of the little party, and at a signal,
furiously attacked the white men with clubs, bows and arrows and knives. The
AMERICANS OKGANIZE A PROVISIONAL GOVEHXMEXT. 227
attack was so sudden and unexpected that the Indians obtained three of the eight
guns with which Turner and his party were armed. The struggle of the trappers
for life was desperate and against fearful odds. The eight men seized whatever thej^
could lay their hands on for defense. Some of them discharged their rifles in the
bosom of their assailants and then clubbed their guns and laid about them with the
barrels. Turner, who was a herculean Kentucky giant, not being able to reach his
rifle, seized a big fir limb from the camp fire and laid about him lustily, knocking
his assailants right and left. At one time the savages had Gay down and were
pounding him, but they were crowded so thick as to impede the force of their blows.
Old Turner, seeing Gay's peril, made a few vigorous blows with his limb which
released him, and the latter, springing to his feet, dealt fearful cuts, thrusts, slashes
and stabs with his long, sharp sheath-knife upon the naked carcasses of the dusky
crowd. The other men, following Turner's and Gay's example fought with the
energy of despair and drove the Indians from their camp. Dan Miller and another
trapper were killed upon the spot, while the six survivors of the melee were all
more or less seriously wounded. While the fight was going on, the squaws drove
off the herd of horses and carried off all of the baggage and camp-equipage, together
with three rifles. Three of the remaining guns were rendered useless by having
their stocks broken oft" in the clubbing process. The six badly wounded survivors
took to the brush and kept the Indians at bay with their two remaining rifles.
By traveling in the night-time and hiding in the brush in the day-time, they man-
aged to elude the Indians, but suffered terribly from their wounds and for want of
provisions and clothing. Dr. Bailey had received a fearful wound from a toma-
hawk, which split his lower jaw from the point of the chin to the throat. From
want of proper treatment, the parts never properly united, and many old jjioneers
will recollect the unsightly scar that disfigured his face for life. Saunders' wounds
disabled him from traveling, and he was left on the South Umpqua, and "Big Tom"
was left on the North Umpqua. The Indians subsequently reported to Dr. Mc-
Loughlin that both men had died of their wounds where they were left. Turner,
Gay, Woodworth and Dr. Bailey, after reaching the head of the Willamette Valley,
differed about the route. Turner mistook the Willamette for the Columbia. Gay,
in his sea voyages, had seen a map or chart showing that the Columbia ran west, and
determined to strike due north in search of the great river, upon the banks of which
he expected to find Hudson's Bay trappers and traders. Turner, Bailey and Wood-
worth followed down the Willamette River until, in a famishing condition, they
struck the Methodist mission below Salem. Gay kept along the foot-hills on the
west side of the valley and crossed the Rickreal about where Dallas now stands,
and crossed the Yamhill River at the falls near Lafayette, passing along on the west
side of Wapatoo Lake, and crossing the Tualatin Plains, reached Wyeth's trading
post on Sauvie's Island some time in August. Before separating from his compan-
ions. Gay had cut up his buckskin breeches to make moccasins for the party, and
made the most of the journey in a naked condition, with the exception of the
tattered remnants of an old shirt. The mosquitoes nearly devoured him in the
Columbia bottoms. This perilous trip of nearly 500 miles was made nearly fifty
years ago, and was a terrible test of the endurance of a naked, wounded, and starv-
ing man.
There were, however, other settlers thaii the Americans. In
1828, Sir George Simpson, Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company,
who was then on an official visit to Fort Vancouver, took possession
of the Willamette Falls, for the purpose, as expressed ))y him, of
228 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
locating there a colony of their retired servants. It had previously
been the policy of the company not to permit settlements to be made
by their servants whose term of contract had expired, since they
deemed them detrimental to the preservation of this region as a fur-
producing wilderness. They wanted no settlements here whatever,
neither British nor American. This move at Willamette Falls was
not persisted in, but a few years later some of their ex-servants located
about Champoeg, or French Prairie, in Marion county, and became
quite a flourishing colony; and there their descendants live to the
present day, useful and industrious citizens.
On the subject of the hrst settlements in the valley. Dr. McLough-
lin's posthumous manuscript has much to say. The Etinne Lucier,
spoken of by him, is the one mentioned above. He first settled on
the east side of the Willamette, opposite the city of Portland, where
he lived several years before removing to French Prairie. The
Doctor says : —
In 1824 I came to this country to superintend the management of the Hudson's
Bay Company's trade on the coast, and we came to the determination to abandon
Ahtoria, and go to Fort Vancouver, as it was a place where we could cultivate the soil
and raise our own provisions. In March, 1825, we moved there and that spring planted
potatoes and sowed two bushels of peas, the only grain we had, and all we had. In
the fall I received from New York Factory a bushel spring wheat, a bushel oats, a
bushel barley, a bushel Indian corn and a quart of timothy, and all of which was
sown in proper time, and which produce well except the Indian corn, for which the
ground was too poor and the nights rather cool, and continued extending our im-
provements. In 1828, the crop was sufficient to enable us to dispense with the im-
portation of flour, etc.
In 1825, from what I had seen of the country, I formed the conclusion from the
mildness and salubrity of the climate, that this was the finest portion of North
America that I had seen for the residence of civilized man, and as the farmers could
not cultivate the ground witliout cattle, and as the Hudson's Bay Company had only
twenty-seven (27) head, big and small, and as I saw at the time no possibility of getting
cattle by sea, and that was too expensive, I determined that no cattle should be
killed at Vancouver except one bull calf every year for rennet to make cheese, till
we had an ample stock to meet all our demands, and to assist settlers, a resolution
to which I strictly adhered, and the first animal killed for beef was in 1838; till that
time we had lived on fresh and salt venison and wild fowl. From morality and
policy I stopped the sale and issue of spiritous liquor to the Indians, but to do this
effectually I had to stop the sale of liquor to all whites. In 1834, when Mr. Wyeth,
of Boston, came, he began by selling liquor, but on my assuring him that the Hud-
son's Bay Company sold no liquor to whites or Indians, he immediately adopted
the same rule.
In 1828, Etinne Lucier, a Willamette trapper, asked me if I thought this would
become a settled country. I told him wherever wheat grew, he might depend it
would become a farming country. He asked me what assistance I would attbrd
AMERICANS ORGANIZE A PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT. 229
him to settle as a farmer. I told him I would loan hun seed to sow and wheat to
feed himself and family, to be returned from the produce of his farm, and sell him
such implements as were in the Hudson's Bay Company's store, at tifty per cent, on
prime cost. But a few days after he came back and told me he thought there was
too remote a prospect of this becoming a civilized country, and as there were no
clergymen in the country, he asked me a passage for his family in the Hudson's
Bay Company's boats, to which I acceded. He started in September to meet the
boats at the mountain ; the express came in too late and he had to return, and went
to hunt for the winter.
In 1829 he again applied to begin to farm. I told him that since he had
spoken to me I heard that several trappers would apply for assistance to begin to
farm, and that it was necessary for me to come to a distinct understanding with
him to serve as a rule for those who might follow. That the Hudson's Bav Company
were bound under heavy penalties to discharge none of their servants in the Indian
country, and bound to return them to the place where they engaged them. That
this was done to prevent vagabonds being let loose among the Indians and incite
them to hostility to the whites. But as I knew he was a good, honest man, and
none but such need ai^ply, and as if he went to Canada and unfortunately died
before his children could provide for themselves they would become objects of pity
and a burthen to others. For these reasons I would assist him to settle. But I
nmst keep him and all the Hudson's Bay Company's servants whom 1 allowed to
settle, on the Hudson's Bay Company's books as servants, so as not to expose the
Hudson's Bay Company and me to a fine, but they could work for themselves, and
no service would be exacted from them.
Many of the Canadians objected to go to the Willamette, because it was to become
American Territory, which I told them it would, as the Hudson's Bay Company in
1825 officially informed that on no event could the British Government claim extend
south of the Columbia, and that they were afraid they would not have the same
advantages as American citizens. I told them from the fertility of the soil, the
extent of prairie and the easy access from the sea, that the Willamette (they must
admit) was the best and only place adapted to form a settlement which would have
a beneficial effect on the whole country north of San Francisco, where we could
assist and protect them from the Indians in case of difficulty, and as to advantages
I did not know what they would have, but this I knew, that the American Govern-
ment and people knew only two classes of persons, rogues and honest men, that
they punished the first and protected the last, and it depended only upon them-
selves to what class they would belong.
Others wanted to go and live with the relatives of their wives, but as their chil-
dren would be brought up with the sympathies and feelings of Indians, and as the '^
half-breeds are in general leaders among Indians, and they would be a thorn in the
side of the whites, I insisted they should go to the Willamette, where their children
could be brought up as whites and Christians, and brought to cultivate the ground
and imbued with the feelings and sympathies of whites, and where they and their
mothers would serve as hostages for the good behavior of their relatives in the
interior. As Indians judge of whites by themselves, and I think if they injure
whites on their lands, the whites would revenge it by murdering their Indian rela-
tives among them, and as the settlement increased by the addition of Indian women
half-breeds, the turbulence of the Indian tribes would diminish; and certainly the
Cayuse war would not have been quelled so easily as it was if other half-breeds had
not joined the Americans ; and I have great pleasure to be able to say, what must
be admitted by all who know them, that the Canadian trappers and half-breeds
who have settled as farmers, are as peaceable, orderly, neighborly and industrious
a set of men as any in the settlement ; and that so far the Canadian settlement has
■i.'iO JIISTOHY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
produced and supplied three-fourths of the grain that has been exported. [Every
pioneer will heartily endorse this eulogy of the people of French Prairie.]
******
I made it a rule that none of the Hudson's Bay Company's servants should be
allowed to join the settlements unless he had fifty pounds sterling before him, as he
required that sum to supply him with clothing and implements. He that begins
business on credit is seldom so careful and industrious as he who does business on
his own means. By this I effected two objects — I made the men more saving and
industrious, and attached them to their farms. If I had not done so, they would
have abandoned on the least difficulty. But having their means invested on their
improvements, they saw if they abandoned the loss would be theirs, they therefore
persisted and succeeded. When the settlement was formed, though the American
trappers had no means, they were assisted on credit, and all in three years paid up
from the produce of their farms.
Tlie presence of American settlers was extremely distasteful to
the company ; not simply because they were Americans, but because
they were American settlers. The officers of the company were
instructed not to encourage them in any way. It stood ready to
sell to the settlers at a high price, but not to purchase from them
anything whatever. They were without cattle, exce23t a few rented
to them by the company, and until they possessed them could not
be or feel independent of the overshadowing corporation. To
remedy this evil. Young and Jason Lee (who never let the fact that
he came to Oregon simply as a missionary prevent him from advanc-
ing American interests whenever possible), set on foot a scheme to
procure a supply of cattle from the vast herds grazing about the
Spanish Missions in California. The effort was opposed by the
company, but with the aid of Lieutenant William A. Slocum, an
officer of the United States Navy, who advanced money and gave a
free passage to California in his vessel to those who went after the
cattle, it was completely successful, and "The Willamette Cattle
Company '' was organized. The party which went to California
was under the leadership of Mr. Young, and was composed of P.
L. Edwards (who kept a diary of the expedition, which is now pre-
served in the State Library at Sacramento and numbered 23,989),
Hawchurst, Carmichael, Bailey, Erequette, DesPau, Williams, Tib-
betts, George Gay, Wood, Camp, Turner, and enough others to
make a company of about twenty men, all inured to the dangers and
privations of mountain life. They collected a band of seven hundred
cattle, at three dollars per head, and, with much labor and difficulty,
succeeded in bringing six hundred of them into the valley. They
AMKKICANS OHGAMZE A PKOVISIONAL (iOVEHNMEXT. 2'U
had much troii])le with the Indians on Siskiyou Mountain and along
Rogue River, and Gay, without any foundation, charges the com-
pany with stirring up the Indians to cut them off. The fact is, as
Edwards' diary plainly shows, the trouble grew out of the unpro-
voked murder by one of the party of an Indian who visited their
camp on Klamath River. Turner, Gay and Bailey were three of
four survivors of the American trapping party which had been
attacked on Rogue River two years before, and shot this Indian in
a spirit of revenge. It is certainly difficult to trace any agency of
the company in this affair, or to assign any other cause than wanton
murder for their trouble with the Indians. The arrival of the cat-
tle was hailed with joy by the settlers, as it guaranteed them com-
plete independence of the company, and demonstrated that Ameri-
cans could settle in the Willamette Valley with an assurance of
being self-supporting.
Such is the version of the cattle question, as it comes fi'om Amer-
ican sources. Dr. McLoughlin gives quite another tone to it. His
document says: —
Every settler had as much wheat on loan as he wanted to begin with, and I lent
them each two cows, as in 1825 we had only twenty-seven head, big and small, old
and young. If I sold they would of course be entitled to the increase, and I
would not have the means to assist the new settlers, and the settlement would be
retarded, as those purchasers who ofTered me two hundred dollars for a cow would
put such a price on the increase as would put it out of the power of poor settlers
to buy. This would prevent industrious men from settling. For these reasons I
would not sell, but loaned, as I say, two cows to each settler, and in case the increase
of settlers might be greater than we could aflfbrd to supply with cattle, I reserved
the right to take any cattle I required ^above his two cows) from any settlers to assist
new settlers. To the Methodist Mission, as it was a public institution, I lent seven
oxen, one bull and eight cows .with their calves. In the beginning, several settlers
lost cattle, poisoned by eating water hemlock. It has been said by the late Mr.
Thurston, Delegate from Oregon, on the floor of Congress, that settlers paid for
dead cattle. This is a wanton falsehood, as it is well known to all old settlers that
no settler paid a cent for dead cattle. It was a loss to the company.
In 1836 we found means of forming a company to go to California for cattle. I
took half the stock for the Hudson's Bay Company, so that by purchasing a large
number (as the expense of driving five hundred or a thousand was the same) as it
would make the cattle cheaper. Those of the settlers that had means put it in the
stock ; those that had none, engaged as drivers at one dollar per day, to be paid in
cattle at their actual cost. Mr. Slocum, who came here in a chartered vessel, gave
them a passage gratis from this place to San Francisco. Mr. Ewing Young was se-
lected to conduct the party. Mr. P. L. Edwards, who came with Messrs. Lee, of
the Methodist Mission, but now a lawyer in California, was appointed Treasurer.
They brought, I think, about seven hundred head of cattle, which cost eight dollars
per head rendered. In the Willamette, the settlers kept the tame and broken-in
2:^2 HISTOKY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
oxen they had belonging to the Hudson Bay Company, and gave their California
wild cattle in the place, so that they found themselves stocked with tame cattle
which cost them only eight dollars per head, and the Hudson's Bay Company, to
favor the settlers, took calves in place of grown-up cattle, because the Hudson's Bay
Company wanted them for beef. These calves would grow up before they were re-
quired.
At the close of 1837, the independent popuhition of Oregon con-
sisted of forty-nine souls, about equally divided l)et^veen missionary
attaches and settlers. With but few exceptions the arrivals during
the next two years were solely of persons connected with the various
missions, whose advent has already been noted. Those coming in
1839 were. Rev. J. S. Griffin and wife, and Mr. Hunger and mfe,
who had made an unsuccessful effort to found an independent mis-
sion on Snake River, and Ben Wright, Robert Shortess, Sidney
Smith, Lawson, Keiser, Geiger, and Blair, a blacksmith. By add-
ing the following list of arrivals in 1840, to those previously men-
tioned, the population of Oregon at that time will l)e quite accu-
rately listed. Mr. Gray thus summarizes the arrivals of that sea-
son : —
In 1840— Metliodist Episcopal Protestant Mission— Mrs. Lee, second wife of Rev.
Jason Lee; Rev. J. H. Frost and wife ; Rev. A. F. Waller, wife and two children ;
Rev. W. W. Kone and wife; Rev. G. Hines, wife and sister; Rev. L. H. Judson,
wife and two children ; Rev. J. L. Parish, wife and three children ; Rev. G. P.
Richards, wife and three children ; Rev. A. P. Olley and wife. Laymen — Mr. Geo.
Abernethy, wife and two children ; Mr. H. Campbell, wife and one child ; Mr. W.
AV. Raymond and wife; Mr. H. B. Brewer and wife; Dr. J. L. Babcock, wife and
one child ; Mrs. Daniel Lee ; Mrs. David Carter ; Mrs. Josejah Holman ; Miss E.
Phillijis. Independent Protestant Mission— Rev. Harvey Clarke and wife ; P. B.
Littlejohn and wife ; Robert Moore, James Cook, and James [Travers, according to
Judge Deadj',] Fletcher, settlers. Jesuit Priests — P. J. DeSmet, Flathead Mission.
Rocky Mountain men with native wives— William Craig, Doctor Robert Newell,
Joseph L. Meek, George Ebbert, William M. Dougherty, John Larison, Geo. Wil-
kinson, a Mr. Nicholson, and Mr. Algear, and William Johnson, author of the
novel, "Leni Leoti, or. The Prairie Flower." The subject was first written and
read before the Lyceum at Oregon City, in 1843.
He classifies the population as follows: American settlers,
twenty-five of them with Indian wives, 36; American women, 33;
children, 32; lay members, Protestant Missions, 13; Methodist Min-
isters, 13; Congregational, 6; American Physicians, 3; English Phy-
sicians, 1; Jesuit Priests, including DeSmet, 3; Canadian French,
60. Total Americans, 137; total Canadians, including Priests, 63;
total population, not including Hudson's Bay Company oj^eratives.
AMERICANS ORGANIZE A PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT. 233
within what now is a portion of Montana, and all of Idaho, Wash-
ington and Oregon, 200.
Up to 1839 the only law or government administered in this
region was the rules of the Hudson's Bay Company; but that year,
deeming that there must be some authority which the settlers would
respect, the Methodist missionaries designated two persons to act as
magistrates. This was done entirely without the co-operation of
the settlers, but the action received their endorsement, or, at least,
was generally acquiesced in. Several cases came before these officers
for adjudication, the most important being the trial of T. J. Hul)-
bard for murder, he having shot a man who was attempting to
enter his cabin through the window. The magistrate was Rev.
David Leslie. The prisoner was acquitted by the jury.
Settlements were made at this time with reference to the possi-
ble division of the country on the line of the Columbia River, all
Americans locating south of the stream, and none but British sub-
jects north of it. Cook, Fletcher and Moore settled on the banks
of the Willamette, near the falls, the last named locating directly
opposite the cataract, on the west bank. He purchased a section
of land of the Indians, a transaction which, of course, had no legal
force, and named his place "Robin's Nest." Dr. McLoughlin
claimed the opposite end of the falls, and, later, when he resigned
from the Hudson's Bay Company, located there and became as good
an American as any of them. He thus relates some of the diffi-
culties lie experienced with this claim: —
In 1840, as I already stated, the Methodist Mission received a large reinforce-
ment. I had selected for a claim, Oregon City, in 1829, made improvements on it
and had a large quantity of timber squared. The Superintendent applied to me for
a loan of some of it to build a mission house. I lent them the timber and had a place
Ijointed out to them upon which to build. In 1840 the Methodist Mission formed a
milling association and jumped jmrt of my claim and began to build a saw and
grist mill. They assumed the right to judge of my rights, and said that I could not
hold it as part of my claim, though the stream that separates the islet from the main
land is not more than forty feet wide in summer. This island is what is called
"Abernethy Island," and is about three or four acres in extent. In 1842, Mr.
Walker, the resident missionary in the house, to build which I lent timber, which
they never returned, and gave the ground upon which to build, set up a claim to
Oregon City in opposition to me, but after some difficulty, I paid them $500
and he gave it up. I preferred to do this and have done with it rather than here-
after trouble Government with it.
It has been remarked that the policy of the Hudson's Bay Com-
384 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
pany was to discourage any settlements whatever, preferring that
the country should remain uninhabited by all save the Indians and
the actual servants of the company. It had even gone to the ex-
pense of sending to Canada those employees whose terms of service
expired. Had they but themselves and employees to deal with, the
policy was a ^vise one for the purpose of effecting the end aimed at
— the preservation of the country in its primeval state — but with
the complication of independent American settlers it was the re-
verse. Had the company from the beginning colonized Oregon
with its discharged servants, as it had previously done the Red
River region, there would now have been such a flourishing colony
as would have completely overshadowed the Americans, if, indeed,
it did not prevent their coming altogether. Failure to do this lost
Great Britain her only hope of acquiring Oregon. The company's
eyes were fully opened to the danger when the AVallamet Cattle
Company was organized in 1837. It resolved then upon a radical
and immediate change of policy — to colonize the country with sub-
jects of Great Britain as rapidly as possible. Accordingly, the
Puget Sound Agricultural Company was organized in 1837 as an
associate of the company, which it was to supply with its products
as well as carry on a trade with the Sandwich Islands and Alaska.
The company, for reasons previously stated, selected a location on
the north side of the Columbia, at Cowlitz and Nesqually. It took
several years to carry the scheme into effect, since it was necessary
to bring a large emigration from the company's oldei* colony on
Red River. The settlement on French Prairie has been mentioned ;
this consisted of about twenty-five families at the time Father Blan-
chet arrived in 1838, and located there the Mission of St. Paul,
where a school and church have ever since been maintained. The
plan of the company was to thus overwhelm the American settlers
in point of numbers, and at the same time to open negotiations be-
tween the home go^^]•nments for a final settlement of the mooted
question of title, in ^vhich the great preponderance of English sub-
jects should be urged as a reason why Great Britain's claim to the
country should be conceded. To the defeat of this deep-laid plan
the United States is indebted largely to Dr. Marcus Whitman's jjer-
spicacity, determination and patriotism, as will appear later on.
The company's plans embraced, also, a studied and persistent
AMERICAKS ORGANIZK A PKOVIJSIONAL <xOVERNMENT. 285
misrepresentation of the agricultural resources of the country. The
idea was industriously impressed upon every one that Oregon was
a barren waste, of no earthly value except as a fur region. By this
means it was hoped not only to discourage emigration, but to im-
press upon American statesmen the idea that a country of such little
value for colonization was not worth contending for, and some of
the speeches made in Congress by several of the foremost men of
the nation show how well the plan succeeded. That England, and
Englishmen generally, became embued with the same idea was of
no consequence, since the company did not desire English settlers
other than such as, in a measure, belonged to it; and England could
be relied upon to do her best to secure it as a perpetual trapping
ground for this great corporation, which was her powerful repi-e-
sentative in the extreme West. Not only was the region decried,
but it was asserted with great positiyene^ss that it was absolutely
impossible for wagons to cross the mountains, and that emigrants
could not pass overland fi'om the Mississippi Valley. Every book
of English origin laid great stress upon these facts, and they were
echoed by the magazines and newspapers. Said John Dunn, a
former clerk of the company, in his work on Oregon: "None but
the wild and fearless free-trappers can clamber over these precipices
and tread these deserts witb security. It is true that there have
been published more favorable accounts, withiu the last year or two,
by parties who have made the journey safely, and who encourage
others to make a similar experiment, but these accounts are mere
bravado." In 1843, the Edinburg Review said: "However the
political question between England and the United States, as to the
ownership of Oregon, may be decided, Oregon will never l)e colo-
nized overland from the United States. The M^orld must assume a
new phase before the American wagons will make plain the road
to the Columbia, as they have done to the Ohio." These extracts
are sufficient to show the general tenor of them all.
In this there was nothing either criminal or dishonest, nothing
which Americans would not have done under the same circum-
stances; and yet certain writers speak of this and other steps of the
company to obtain, or retain, possession of Oregon, as constituting
a heinous crime. In looking at this matter one should divest him-
self of all national and religious prejudice or bigotry. Both na-
236 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
tions having well-founded claims to the country, the subjects of
Great Britain certainly were as fully justified in making an effort
for possession as were the citizens of the United States; and the
actual fact is that they were less active, less aggressive than were
the Americans, to which is largely due their defeat in the contest
upon which they entered with every advantage. Because they made
these efforts, parties who were equally active on the other side have
charged the company with grave crimes, not the least of which was
the inciting of the natives to murder American settlers and mission-
aries. These charges rest solely upon the most flimsy circumstan-
tial evidence, which is outweighed by the conduct and character of
the officers who administered the company's affairs in Oregon. It
is not the purpose of the writer to engage in a general defense of
the Hudson's Bay Company, or acquit it of all censure; for he be-
lieves its policy to have been harsh and cruel, though natural and
human. He would, however, desire to defend the name of good
Dr. McLoughlin from the aspersions of men who were not worthy
to untie the latchet of his shoes ; who possessed neither his large and
liberal mind, nor his warm and generous heart. He must be dis-
associated entirely fi'om the comjiany whose chief representative he
was, since he failed utterly to carry out its policy. He was ever the
sympathizing fi'iend of the needy pioneer, and liberally aided him
in distress; and when called to account, in 1844, for not enforcing
the company's orders to withhold from American settlers all assist-
ance whatever, resigned his position and became nearly penniless
because of J:>eing held personally responsible for the debts he had
permitted many distressed emigrants to contract for necessary sup-
plies, which debts, it may be stated, many never had the honor or
gratitude to discharge. Aside from this order to withhold assistance,
which, had it been enforced by Dr. McLoughlin, would have caused
great distress, and which, of course, not being present to witness it,
the chief officers of the company could not fully appreciate, there
was nothing in the conduct of the company which would not be
looked upon in any country and by any people as proper and nec-
essary for the protection of their interests, could they be placed in a
similar position. It is questionable if the gentlemen entertaining
such bitter feelings had possesrsed the great power of the company,
whether they would have used it as honorably and conscientiously
AMERICANS ORGANIZE A PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT. 237
as did Dr. McLoiighlin and his associates. These narrow-minded
views were not entertained by Dr. Whitman, the Nestor of them all.
He had a brain snfficiently large, and a nature sufficiently honor-
able, to divorce politics and personality, and he honored and respected
some of these men, and enjoyed their warmest fi'iendship, while do-
ing more than any other man to counteract and defeat their plans.
The active part taken politically by the Protestant missionaries lost
them the support they at first received from the company, which
w^as transferred to the Catholics, who, as subjects of Great Britain,
could be counted upon to further its interests. It was this support
of their religious adversaries which caused the bitter enmity of cer-
tain Protestant historians to the company. The mutual intolerance
of adherents of the two creeds, and the especially bitter spirit en-
gendered by the contest for spiritual control of the Indians, suffi-
ciently explain why those whose minds were thus wrought up to a
belief in the commission of fiendish acts by their Catholic opponents,
should extend their prejudices to the company which aided in their
defeat.
Dr. McLoughlin treats the subject of his attitude and conduct
towards American settlers at great length, and justice to him requires
that his words be given in full. He says: —
In 1843, about 800 emigrants arrived from the States. I saw by the looks of the
Indians that they were excited, and I watched them. As the first stragglers were
arriving at t^aneouver in canoes, I was standing on the bank. Nearer the water
there was a group of ten or twelve Indians. One of them bawled out to his com-
panions, "It is good for us to kill these Bostons! " Struck with the excitement I
had seen in the countenances of the Indians since they had heard the report of the
immigration coming, I felt certain they were inclined to mischief, and that he spoke
thus loud as a feeler to sound me, and take their measures accordingly. I imme-
diately rushed on them with my cane, calling out at the same time, " Who is the
dog that says it is a good thing to kill these Bostons!" The fellow, trembling,
excused himself, " I spoke without meaning harm, but the Dalles Indians say so."
" Well," said I, " the Dalles Indians are dogs for saying so, and you also," and left
him, as, if I had remained longer, it would have had a bad effect. I had done
enough to convince them I would not allow them to do wrong to the immigrants
with impunity. From this Indian saying, in the way he did, that the Dalles
Indians said it was good to kill the Bostons, I felt it my duty to do all I could to
avert so horrid a deed.
Mr. P. L. Edwards, whom I mentioned, came in 1834, with Messrs. Lee, and
left in 1838, sent me a letter by Gen. McCarver, stating he had given a letter of in-
troduction to me to P. H. Burnett, Esq. I immediately formed my plan and kept
my knowledge of the horrid design of the Indians secret, as I felt certain that if
Americans knew it, these men acting independent of each other, would be at once
for fighting, which would lead to their total destruction, and I sent two (2) boats
238 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
with provisions to meet them ; sent provisions to Mr. Burnett, and a large quantity
of provisions for sale to those who would purchase, and to be given to those who
had not the means, being confident that the fright I had given (as already stated) the
Indians who said it was a good thing to kill the Bostons was known at the Dalles
before our boats were there, and that with the presence of the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany people, and the assistance they afforded the immigrants, would deter the
Indians from doing them any wrong, and I am happy to be able to say I entirely
succeeded. At first I thought these Indians were excited by some of the Iroquois
Indians in the Hudson's Bay Company's service, and ti'ied to find if so, but found
nothing to enlighten me on the subject.
About a month after Dr. Whitman, from his mission Walla Walla to Vancou-
ver, as the Dalles was on his way, and as he had seen the principal men there, it
occurred to me that he might have heard of it, and told him what I heard the
Indian say, and how I had alarmed him, what I had done to deter them and my
suspicion that all this sprung from some of our rascally Iroquois, and that I was
anxious to find that rascal out to punish him as an example to deter others. " Oh,"
says the Doctor, " I know all about it." " You do, Doctor," says I. " Yes," said
the Doctor, "and I have known it for two years." "You have known it for two
years and you told me nothing! Pray tell me his name." The Doctor, seeing I
was on the wrong scent, said, "His name is Thomas Hill." After thinking for
some time, I replied, the Hudson's Bay Company had no man of that name in their
service. " Oh," says the Doctor, " Tom Hill the Shawnee." This Indian, it is said,
had been educated at Dartmouth College in the States, had told the Indians that a
few Americans had come to settle on their land ; that the Shawnees allowed them,
but when the Americans were strong enough they drove the Shawnees oft' and now
the Shawnees have no lands, and had urged the Indians to allow no Americans to
settle on their lands, which advice the Indians about Walla Walla say the Cayuses
are following to this day, and the Indians are inclined to follow by killing the immi-
grants who first came, and which I believe they would have done but for the decided
and cautious manner that I acted. And the reason the Indian made use of the ex-
pression he did, was becailse I punished the murderers of the Smith party, and be-
fore acting they wanted to know how I would treat them, and most certainly if I
had not been most anxious for the safety of the immigrants and to discharge to
them the duties of a Christian, my ear would not have caught so quickly the words,
" it is a good thing to kill these Bostons," and acted as I did. In fact, if the immi-
grants had all been my brothers and sisters, I could not have done more for them.
I fed the hungry, caused the sick to be attended to and nursed, furnished them
every assistance so long as they required it, and which some have not paid to this
day, though abundantly able, and for which, if they do not pay, I am answerable
to the Hudson's Bay Company. It may be said, and has been said, that I was too
liberal in making these advances. It is not so, but was done judiciously and
prudently.
When the immigration of 1842 came, we had enough of breadstuff's in the country
for one year, but as the immigrants reported that next season there would be a
greater immigration, it was evident if there was not a proportionate increase of seed
sown in 1843 and 1844, there would be a famine in the country in 1845, which would
lead to trouble, as those that had families, to save them from starvation, would be
obliged to have recourse to violence to get food for them. To avert this I freely sup-
plied the immigrants of 1843 and 1844 with the necessary articles to open farms, and
by these means avoided the evils. In short I afforded every assistance to the immi-
grants so long as they required it, and by management I kept peace in the country,
and in some cases had to put up with a great deal ; for instance, when the milling
company jumped part of my (;luim, the island upon which they built u mill, and
AMERICANS ORGANIZE A PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT. 239
which subsequently Abernethy purchased, and when Williamson jumped part of
Fort Vancouver, as may be seen by my correspondence with the provisional govern-
ment on the subject, and which occurred in the presence of several American
citizens, who I am happy to say strongly expressed their disapprobation of William-
son's.conduct, and which I am induced to believe made him desist, and it will be
seen, to their credit, that Messrs , the
Executive Committee, acted in a straightforward, manly and correct manner, and
it was by such conduct on the part of respectable American citizens, that peace and
order were maintained in the country. It is true, several thought I was too for-
bearing ; but when I saw how much the good on both sides would sutler if I acted
differently, and that a war between Great Britain and the United States might be
caused by it, I considered it my duty to act as I did, and bj'^ which I thinli I may
have prevented a war between the United States and Great Britain. And how
have I been treated by both ?
By British demagogues I have been represented as a traitor. For what? Because
I acted as a Christian ; saved American citizens, men, women and children from
the Indian tomahawk, and enabled them to make farms to support their families.
American demagogues have been base enough to assert that I had caused American
citizens to be massacred by hundreds by the savages. I, who saved all I could.
I have been represented by the delegate from Oregon, the late S. R. Thurston, as
doing all I could to prevent the settling, while it was well known to every Ameri-
can settler who is acquainted with the history of the Territory, that this is a down-
right falsehood, and most, certainly will say, that they most firmly believe that I
did all I could to promote its settlement, and that I could not have done more for
the settlers if they had been my brothers and sisters, and after being the first person
to take a claim in the country and assisting the immigrants as I have, my claim is
reserved, after having exj)ended all the means I had to improve it, while every other
settler in the country gets his. But as I felt convinced that any disturbance
between us here might lead to a war between Great Britain and the States, I felt it
my bounden duty as a Christian, to act as I did, and which I think averted the
evil, and which was so displeasing to some English demagogues that they repre-
sented me to the British Government as a person so partial to American interests as
selling the Hudson's Bay Company goods in my charge cheaper to American than
I did to British subjects. On the other hand, though, if the American immigrants
had been mj^ brothers and sisters, I could not have done more for them ; yet, after
acting as I have, spending my means and doing my utmost to settle the country,
my claim is reserved, while every other settler in the country gets his; and how
much this has injured me, is daily injuring me, it is needless to say, and certainly
it is a treatment I do not deserveand which I did not expect. To be brief, I founded
this settlement and prevented a war between the United States and Great Britain,
and for doing this peaceably and quietly, I was treated by the British in such a
manner that from self respect I resigned my situation in the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany's service, by which I sacrificed $12,000 per annum, and the " Oregon Land
Bill " shows the treatment I received from the Americans.
It is a pleasure to state that all liberal-minded pioneers regard
the good Doctor as one of the grandest and most noble characters
with whom they ever came in contact.
The population of Oregon may be classified, in 1840, into four
distinct di\^sions — the Hudson's Bay Company; the Catholic mis-
sionaries and their French proteges; the Protestant missionaries;
240 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
and tlie independent settlers. The first two generally acted together,
thou2:h there were a few members of the Catholic church who favored
American rule. Though not always in full accord, and occasionally
opposing each other, the settlers and missionaries, as a rule, acted
together, the missions serving as a rallying point for the settlers.
These latter cared nothing for the religious creed the missionaries
represented, their sole object in securing homes in the Willamette
Valley being to better their wordly condition, yet the}' favored the
mission to the extent that it served their purpose of settling in the
country. The missions of the American Board located east of the
mountains, cut no figure at first in the organization of a government,
that movement being confined to the settlers in the Willamette VaL
ley. The motives which actuated them are thus set forth by J.
Quinn Thornton: —
Distant from the land of their birth, surrounded by restless tribes of Indians,
who clamorously and insolently demanded of the immigrants pay for lands which
the immigrants had neither the means nor the right to purchase; still ardently de-
siring to have their names and their destiny connected with that of the republic,
and yet, often pierced to the heart by the thought, which would sometimes, unbid-
den, obtrude itself upon the mind, that they were the victims of their country's
neglect and injustice, and sufTering all the inconveniences and embarrassments
w hich are necessarily felt by a resident and civilized community, without a system of
laws for the conservation of peace and order, they were at length compelled to or-
ganize a provisional government.
Their first step was taken March 16, 1838, when J. L. Whit-
comb and thirty-five other settlers prepared a memorial, which was
presented to Congress January 28, 1839, by Senator Linn. This
document set forth the resources and condition of the country, and
contained the following paragraph: —
We are anxious when we imagine what will be, what must be, the condition of
so mixed a community, free from all legal restraint and superior to that moral influ-
ence which has hitherto been the pledge of our safety. We flatter ourselves that
we are the germ of a great State and are anxious to give an early tone to the moral
and intellectual character of our citizens— the destinies of our posterity will be
intimately affected by the character of those who immigrate. The territory must
populate — the Congress of the United States must say by whom. The natural
resources of the country, with a well-judged civil code, will invitea good community>
but a good community will hardlyemigrate to a country which promises no pro-
tection to life or property. * * * We can boast of no civil code. We
can promise no protection but the ulterior resort of self-defense. * * * We
have thus briefly shown that the security of our persons and our property, the
hopes and destinies of our children, are involved in the subject of our petition. We
do not presume to suggest the manner in which the country should be occupied hy
the Government, nor the extent to which our settlement should be encouraged.
AMERICANS ORGANIZE A PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT. 241
We confide in the wisdom of our national legislators, and leave the subject to their
candid deliberations.
This petition was read, laid on the table, and neglected. In
June, 1840, Senator Linn again presented a memorial, signed by
seventy citizens of Oregon : —
Your petitioners represent that they are residents in Oregon Territory, and citi-
zens of the United States, or persons desirous of becoming such. They further rep-
resent that they have settled themselves in said Territory, under the belief that it
was a portion of the public domain of the United States, and that they might rely
upon the government thereof for the blessings of free institutions and the protec-
tion of its arms. But your petitioners further represent, that they are uninformed
of any acts of said Government by which its institutions and protection are ex-
tended to them; in consequence whereof, themselves and families are exposed to be
destroyed by the savages and others that would do them. harm. And your petition-
ers would further represent that they have no means of protecting their own and
the lives of their families, other than self-constituted tribunals, organized and sus-
tained by the power of an ill-instructed public opinion, and the resort to force and
arms. And your petitioners represent these means of safety to be an insufficient
safeguard of 'life and j^roperty. •:«•*** Your petitioners wherefore
pray the Congress of the United States of America, to establish, as soon as may be,
a territorial government in Oregon Territory.
The phrase which is italicized in the above memorial undoubt-
edly refers to the Hudson's Bay Company, which, so some of the
settlers then believed and a few still affect to believe, designed their
destruction. The absurdity of this has already been pointed out by
calling attention to the character of the company's officers in Ore-
gon, and to the very patent fact that had such been theii' intention
it would have been carried out, since nothing could have been easier
of accomplishment. That the company succeeded in ''freezing out "
opposition traders, by exerting its authority to prevent the Indians
form trading with its rivals, and by refusing to sell such men sup-
plies when in business distress, is an undisputed fact; and that
it sought to " starve out " all American settlers, or, at least, keep
them in practical subjection, is equally undisputable, and would
probably have been as fully successful had another than Dr. Mc-
Loughlin been in charge at Vancouver; but that it sought to achieve
these ends by murder and inciting the Indians to slaughter them,
lacks proof of any kind. Its domination over the Indians was so
complete that a simple hint that the company desired the Americans
killed would have been sufficient to have accomplished that end.
The simple fact that these petitioners lived for many years exposed
242 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
to attack and never once received it, is evidence enough to show
that the fears expressed in the memorial were ungrounded.
Having thus ]3rovided for making known the situation of affairs
to Congress, and being well aware that one, and possibly two, years
must roll around before they could even know that their petition
had been presented, they addressed themselves to the task of pro-
viding such government as was absolutely required for the security
of their families and the proper conservation of the peace. The
principal settlement was at Champoeg, and there a meeting was
held on the seventh of February, 1841, the record of which shows
that it was " a meeting of some of the inhabitants * * * for
the purpose of consulting upon steps necessary to be taken for the
formation of laws, and the election of officers to execute them." Rev.
Jason Lee was called to the chair, and requested to express his
opinion of what was necessary to be done. In a brief speech, which
indicates that he had given considerable thought to the subject, he
advised the appointment of a committee to draft a constitution and
by-laws for the government of that portion of the territory lying
south of the Columbia. The people were also recommended to con-
sidered the question of a governor and other officers. Here the
matter rested temporarily; but an event happened a few days later
which revived it with greater vigor. This was the death of that
able and energetic leader, Ewing Young, on the fifteenth of Feb-
ruary. His funeral, which was held two days later, was attended
by nearly every settler in the valley. Mr. Young possessed con-
siderable property, and left no visible heirs to claim it and no one
to administer upon the estate. Had he been a servant, or even an
employee of the company, the officers would have taken charge of
the effects; or had he been associated with one of the missions, there
would have been no doubt about the disposition of his property; but
he was simply an independent settler, and no one had any color of
authority to act in the premises. After the funeral ceremonies were
concluded, the people organized a "meeting of some of the inhabit-
ants of the Wallamet Valley, for consultation concerning the steps
necessaiy to be taken for the formation of laws, and the election of
officers to execute the same, and for the better preservation of peace
and good order." Rev. Jason Lee was chosen Chairman, and Rev.
Gustavus Hines Secretary. It was determined to institute a civil gov-
AMEEICANS ORGANIZE A PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT. 243
ernment soutli of the Columbia, to the protection of which any per-
son living north of that stream and not connected with the company,
might be admitted upon ajDplication. The form of government
decided upon was a legislative committee, a governor, a supreme
judge with probate powers, three justices of the peace, three con-
stables, three road commissioners, an attorney-general, a clerk of the
courts and public recorder, a treasurer, and two overseers of the
poor. Names of gentlemen to occupy the various offices were sug-
gested, and then the meeting adjourned to assemble the next day at
the Methodist Mission, and elect officers. Nearly all the male pop-
ulation south of the Columbia assembled at the time and place
specified. There were three distinct factions — the Methodist mis-
sionaries and their associates, the independent settlers, and the
Catholics as allies of the Hudson's Bay Company. The first busi-
ness was the choice of a committee to draft a constitution and code
of laws, the following gentlemen being selected: Rev. F. N. Blan-
chet, representing the Catholics; Rev. Jason Lee, Rev. Gustavus
Hines and Rev. Josiah L. Parrish, representing the Methodist Mis-
sion; D. Donpierre and M. Charlevo, representing the French Can-
adian settlers; Robert Moore and Etinne Lucier, representing the
American settlers; William Johnson, representing the purely English
element. The main point at issue between the factions seemed to
be the position of governor; Revs. Leslie and Hines and Dr. J. L.
Babcock were the mission candidates, and seemed liable to divide
the vote sufficiently to eiisui'e the election of Dr. Bailey, a man of
strong English prejudices, who was opposed to religion generally.
He could secure the French Catholics and a majority of the settlers'
votes, but the latter element he alienated by his extreme immodesty
in nominating himself. It was finally decided to dispense with a
governor, the duties of that office being discharged by the supreme
judge, to which position Dr. J. L. Babcock was elected. He was
instructed to render decisions in cases which might come before him,
in accordance with the New York code; but as there was not a New
York statute book west of the Rocky Mountains, it would have been
difficult to determine whether he complied or not. The committee
being divided between the different interests, and the bench having
fallen to the Methodists, the Catholics were given the recorder in
the person of George W. LeBreton, who had come out in the brig
244 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
Maryland, aud was a young mail of good education. Later, he
affiliated entirely witli the settlers, and is spoken of by the priests
at the time of his death, which will be subsequently noted, as being
an apostate. The English element was represented by William
Johnson, as high sheriff. Joseph Gervais, Hadier Laderaut (Zania
Ladaroot), Pierre Billique and William McCarty were chosen con-
stables. The other offices designated ^vere not tilled; to have done
so would have required nearly every prominent man in the settle-
ments. The meeting then adjourned to assemble on the iirst Tues-
day in June, at the ne^v building near the Catholic church. Dr.
Babcock administered upon the estate of Mr. Young, and as no
heirs appeared to claim it, the property was devoted to the build-
ing, two years later, of a jail at Oregon City, the first of its kind
west of the Rocky Mountains. A score of years later the Oregon
Legislature refunded the value of the estate to Joaquin Young, of
New Mexico, who proved himself to be a son of the deceased
pioneer.
Upon the day appointed in June the people again assembled,
and learned that the committee had not framed a constitution, nor
had they even met for that purpose. Rev. F. N. Blanchet resigned,
and after choosing Dr. Bailey to fill the vacancy, the meeting in-
sti'ucted the committee to "confer with the Commodore of the
American squadi'ou and John McLoughlin, Chief Factor of the
Hudson's Bay Company, with regard to forming a constitution and
code of laws for this community." The meeting then adjourned
till the following October. The naval officer alluded to was Com-
modore Charles Wilkes, who had been despatched by the United
States Government, in 1838, with a fleet of vessels, on an extended
voyage of exploraticjii, continuing five years. Wilkes was then in
Oregon with the douV)le purpose of obtaining geographical and sci-
entific information and learning the exact situation of affairs. Per-
sonally, he enjoyed the hospitality of Dr. McLoughlin during his
T)rief stay, several expeditions being sent out fi'om Vancouver, one
going to Puget Sound, one to the missions east of the mountains,
and a third, under Lieutenant Emmons, passing up the W^illamette
Valley and going overland to the Bay of San Francisco, whither
the squadron proceeded by sea. Having visited the various mis-
sions, talked with the settlers, and consulted with the worthy Chief
AMERICANS ORaANlZE A PROVISIONAL OOVERNMEXT. 24.")
Factor, be learned that only a minority were in favor of a o-overii-
ment, chiefly those associated with the Methodist Mission. It
seemed to be the prevailing opinion that the settlement was not
strong enough to sustain a government and not large enough to
absolutely require it. Accordingly, Wilkes ad^dsed the com-
mittee which waited upon him, to wait until they were stronger
before attempting a government, until the "Government of the
United States should throw its mantle over them." This advice was
accepted, and the adjourned meeting never convened. This ended
the first effort to organize a local government.
The first regular emigration from the East arrived in 1841, be-
ginning that steady stream of young and vigorous life which has
annually flowed into Oregon for over forty years; and the end will
not he seen for many years to come. There were deep and moving
causes for this living stream to force its way through the rocky bar-
riers and alkali deserts and cut a deep channel to Oregon. Trap-
pers who had visited the Pacific Coast sang the praises of the lovely
and fertile valleys of the Willamette and Sacramento, where winter
was unknown and the grass remained green the year round. The
western frontiersmen caught up the refrain as it passed from cabin
to cabin ; and in a few years the tale was an old one with the hardy
pioneers of the West. The publication of Dr. ParkerV book, Irv-
ing's "Astoria " and " Bonneville," John Dunn's work on Oregon,
a letter written by Robert Shortess, who had come out in 1839,
combined with a general financial depression in the Western States,
caused much attention to be directed towards Oregon, California
then being a province of Mexico and, consequently, less attractive
to American citizens. The two steadfast friends of Oregon in Congress
w^ere the senators from Missouri, Thomas H. Benton and Lewis F.
Linn, whose names are liorne by two of the oldest and best counties
in the Willamette Valley. They never ceased to urge upon the
Government the necessity of taking some decisive step to perfect
its title to the region of the Columbia, and to extend the jurisdic-
tion of the law over this disputed country for the protection of
American citizens who were making, and might in the future make,
their homes in the far-off Occident. It was Senator Linn A\ho pre-
sented the two memorials before alluded to, and who, at the same
time, introduced bills for the extension of the jurisdiction of the
246 . HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
United States laws over Oregon, urging them warmly upon the
consideration of Congress. Early in 1842 lie introduced a bill
granting donations of the public lands to all who might settle in
Oregon, his idea being that a liberal emigration alone could be re-
lied upon to win the Columbia for the United States, and that
special inducements should be offered to those brave and hardy
people who must be relied upon to thus constitute the line of battle
on the frontier. With all earnestness he supported this measure in
the Senate, ably seconded by his eminent colleague, but his sudden
death on the 3d of October, 1843, suspended, for the time, the vi-
tality of these measures; yet, in the donation laws passed by Con-
gress a few years later, the pioneers of Oregon reaped the benefit
of his unselfish exertions, and received the fulfillment of that im-
plied promise which had induced many of them to undertake the
toilsome and dangerous journey. In his eulogy upon his distin-
guished colleague, delivered in the Senate, Mr. Benton said: "In
the character of such a man, so exuberant in all that is grand and
beautiful in human nature, it is difficult to particularize excellen-
cies, or pick out any one quality or circumstance which could claim
pre-eminence over all others. If I should attempt it, I should point
among his measures for the benefit of the whole Union, to the Or-
egon bills."
The emigration of 1841 consisted of one hundi-ed and eleven
persons, who, owing to the supposed impossibility of crossing the
country with wagons, made no attempt to bring vehicles with them.
That such was not an impossibility had been demonstrated in two
instances — when Dr. Whitman took his cart to Fort Boise in 1836,
and again in 1840 by Dr. Robert Newell, an old mountaineer, who
took a prominent and honorable part in the early affairs of Oregon.
He was one of the arrivals of 1 840 previously noted. Newell had
served as guide to the Methodist missionaries from Green River to
Fort Hall, where, as compensation for his services, he received the
two wagons belonging to the missionaries, which they had decided
to abandon at that point. The wagon party consisted of Dr. Rob-
ert Newell and family, Joseph L. Meek, Caleb Wilkins and Francis
Ermatinger, a Factor of the Hudson's Bay Company. The inci-
dent is thus related by Dr. Newell: —
At the time I took the wagons, I had no idea of undertaking to bring them into
AMEKICAlSrS ORGANIZE A PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT. 247
this country. I exchanged fat horses to these missionaries for their animals, and
after they had been gone a month or more for Wallamet, and the American Fur
Company liad abandoned the country for good, I concluded to hitch up and try the
much-dreaded job of bringing a wagon to Oregon. I sold one of these wagons to
Mr. Ermatinger, at Fort Hall. Mr. Caleb Wilkins had a small wagon which Joel
Walker had left at Fort Hall. On the fifth of August, 1840, we put out with three
wagons. Joseph L. Meek drove my wagon. In a few days we began to realize the
difficult task before us, and found that the continual crashing of the sage under our-
wagons, which was in many places higher than the mule's backs, was no joke.
Seeing our animals begin to fail, we began to light up, finally threw away our
wagon-beds and were quite sorry we had undertaken the job. All the consolation
we had was that we broke the first sage on that road, and were too proud to eat
anything but dried salmon skins after our provisions had become exhausted. In a
rather rough and reduced state we arrived at Dr. Whitman's mission station in the
Walla Walla Valley , where we were met by that hospitable man and kindly made
welcome and feasted accordingly. On hearing me regret that I had undertaken to
bring wagons, the Doctor said, "Oh, you will never regret it. You have broken the
ice, and when others see that wagons have passed, they too will pass, and in a few
years the valley will be full ol our people." The Doctor shook me heartily by the
hand ; Mrs. Whitman, too, welcomed us, and the Indians walked around our
wagons, or what they called "horse canoes," and seemed to give it up. We spent a
day or so with the Doctor, and then went to Fort Walla Walla, where we were
kindly received by Mr. P. C. Pambrun, Chief Trader of the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany, Superintendent of that post. On the first of October, we took leave of those
kind people, Itaving our ivagons and taking the river trail — but we proceeded
slowly. Our party consisted of Josej^h L. Meek and myself, also our families, and
a Snake Indian whom I brought to Oregon, where he died a year after our arrival.
The party did not arrive at the Wallamet Falls till December, subsisting for weeks
upon dried salmon, and upon several occasions compelled to swim their stock across
the Columbia and Wallamet.
The emigrants ft'om the Red River colonies which were brought
to Oregon in pnrsuance of the plan of the Hudson's Bay Company
set forth above, arrived in the fall of 18-41. Sir George Simpson,
governor of the company, visited Vancouver the same year, crossing
overland from Montreal. Just east of the Rocky Mountains he
passed this train of emigrants, which he records as consisting of
" twenty-three families, the heads being generally young and active.''
They reached Oregon in September and were located north of the
Columbia, in the vicinity of the Cowlitz farm of the Puget Sound
Agricultural Company. A number of them relocated the next year
in the Willamette Valley.
The emigration of 1842 consisted of one hundred and nine
people, fifty-five of them over eighteen years of age. They started
from Independence on the sixteenth of May, with sixteen wagons
and a number of cattle. In the train was Dr. Elijah White, who
had spent three years in Oregon in connection with the Methodist
248 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
Mission. He had now secured an appointment as Indian Agent for
the region west of the Rocky Mountains, and w^as on his way back
to the scene of his missionary labors. Alexander and John McKay,
sons of Tom. McKay, were also with the party, being homew^ard
bound fi'om a few years of attendance at school in New York State.
These three had lived in Oregon, but were not acquainted with the
route thither. Judge Columbia Lancaster and his family accompa-
nied them as far as the Kansas Kiver, but he was compelled by the
sickness of his wife to abandon the journey and return. A few
years later he was more successful and his name is now indelibl}^
stamped upon the pages of Oregon history. Stephen H. Meek, an
experienced mountaineer and brother of Col. Jo. Meek, served as
guide and general advisor, having trapped for years through the
mountains and been in Oregon several times, first with Bonneville
and afterwards as an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company. F. X.
Matthieu, well known in the State, joined the train at Fort Lara-
mie, wdth three Frenchmen whose names are unkuo\^Ti. Thomas
Fitzpatrick, a former partner in the Rocky Mountain Fur Com-
pany, and one of the most experienced of mountain men, was en-
countered at Fort Laramie and engaged for $500 to pilot the train
to Fort Hall. At Indej^endence Rock a young man named Bailey
was killed by the accidental discharge of a rifle; and L. W. Hast-
ings and A. L. Lovejoy, two names prominent in Oregon history,
were captured by Sioux Indians while engaged in carving their
names on the face of the rock. They were ransomed by making
theii' captors a present of a few trinkets and pieces of tol)acco ; and
this was what gave rise to the story in after years that Hastings had
been bought for a plug of tobacco. At Green Rive]* one-half of
the wagons were dismantled and used to make pack saddles, since
it was deemed too slow and difficult a task to take the whole train
further. This event and the subsequent incidents of the journey
are thus related by Hon. Medorum Cra^vford, one of the party: —
Horses, mules and oxen were packed with such clothing, utensils and provisions
as were indispensable for our daily wants, and with heavy hearts many articles of
comfort and convenience, which had been carefully carried and cared for on the
long journey, were left behind. About the middle of August we arrived at Fort
Hall, then an important trading post belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company.
From Captain Grant, his officers and employees, we received such favors and assist-
ance as can only be appreciated by worn-out and destitute emigrants. Here the
remaining wagons were left, and our company, no longer attempting to keep up an
AMERICANS ORGANIZE A PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT. 249
organization, divided into small parties, each traveling as fast as their circumstances
would permit, following the well-beaten trail of the Hudson's Bay Company to
Fort Walla Walla, now Wallula. The small party to which I was attached was
one month traveling from Fort Hall to Dr. Whitman's, where we w^ere most hos-
pitably received and supplied with flour and vegetables in abundance, a very
acceptable change after subsisting almost entirely on buffalo meat from Laramie to
Fort Hall, and on salmon from Fort Hall to Whitman's. In fact there had not
been in my mess a mouthful of bread since leaving Laramie. * * * From
Walla Walla Dr. White and some others took passage down the Columbia River in
the Hudson's Bay Company's boats. Others pursued the journey by land to The
Dalles, and there embarked in boats or canoes, and still others, and the larger por-
tion of the emigrants, crossed the Cascade Mountains on the old Indian trail. From
Fort Hall to the Willamette no precaution was taken against, or the slightest
apprehension felt of Indian hostility, nor were we in any instance molested by
them ; on the contrary, they furnished us with salmon and game, and rendered us
valuable assistance for very trifling rewards. Fi-om Walla Walla to the Willamette
Falls occupied about twenty days, and all things considered, was the hardest part
of the entire journey — what with the drifting sands, rocky clifls, and rapid streams
along the Columbia River, and the gorges, torrents, and thickets of the Cascade
Mountains, it seems incredible how, with our worn-out and emaciated animals, we
ever reached our destination.
The members of tliat little train of 1842, such as were then over
eighteen years of age, are thus enumerated by Mr. Crawford: —
The following named men over eighteen years of age composed the emigration
of 1842: C. T. Arendell, James Brown, William Brown, Gabriel Brown, Barnum,
Hugh Burns, Geo. W. Bellamy, Bennett, Bennett, Jr., Bailey (killed), Nathaniel
Crocker, Nathan Coombs, Patrick Clark, Alexander Copeland, A. N. Coates,
Medorum Crawford, Allen Davy, John Dearnn, John. Dobbinbess, Samuel Davis,
Foster, John Force, James Force, Girtman, Gibbs, L. W. Hastings, J. M. Hudspeath,
John Hofstetter, Hardin Jones, A. L. Lovejoy, Reuben Lewis, F. X. Matthieu, S.
W. Moss, J. L. Morrison, Stephen Meek, Alex. McKay, John ]\3cKay, Walter
Pomeroy, Dwight Pomeroy, J. W. Perry, Dutch Paul, J. R. Robb, Owen Summer,
T. J. Shadden, Andrew Smith, A. D. Smith, Darling Smith, Adam Storn, Aaron
Towner, Joel Turnham, Elijah White, David Weston, Three Frenchmen.
The condition of the valley and the settlers, when these emigrants
arrived, is thus delineated by Mr. Cra^^^ord: —
On the fifth day of October our little party, tired, ragged and hungry, arrived at
the Falls, now Oregon City, where we found the first habitations west of the Cas-
cade Mountains. Here several members of the Methodist Mission were located,
and a saw mill was being erected on the island. Our gratification on arriving
safely after so long and perilous a journey, was shared by these hospitable people,
each of whom seemed anxious to give us hearty welcome and render us every assist-
ance in their power. From the Falls to Vancouver was a trackless wilderness,
communication being only by the river in small boats and canoes. Toward Salem
no sign of civilization existed until we reached the French Prairie, where a few
farms near the river were cultivated by former employees of the Hudson's Bay
Company. West of the Falls some fifteen miles was Tualitan Plains, where a few
settlers, mostly from Red River, had located. Within the present limits of Yamhill
County, the only settlers I can remember were Sidney Smith, Amos Cook, Francis
Fletcher, James O'Neil, Joseph McLaughlin, Williams, Louis LaBoute and
250 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
George Gay. There may have been one or two more, but I think not. South of
George Gay's on the west end of Salem, on the east side of the Willamette River,
there were no settlements in the territory.
There were in the valley some twelve or fifteen Methodist Missionaries, most of
them having families, under the general superintendence of Rev. Jason Lee. Some
of them were living at the Falls, some at Salem, and some at the Mission farm, ten
miles below Salem, oiiposite the place now known as Wheatland. At these places,
especially at the Falls and Salem, many improvements were being made, and em-
ployment was given at fair wages to all who desired work. Payment was made in
lumber and flour from their mills at Salem, cattle and horses from their herds, and
orders on the mission stores at the Falls, kept by Hon. George Abernethy. There
was no money in the country, and in fact I do not remember seeing a piece of
money of any description for more than a year after my arrival. A man's financial
condition was based upon his cattle, horses, and credit on the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany's or Abernethy's books. With these he could procure everything that was
purchaseable in the country. All kinds- of tools and implements were scarce and
generally of the most primitive character. There were no wagons in the country.
Carts of the rudest manufacture were in general use, which among the French
were frequently ironed with raw-hide. Ground was plowed with wooden mould-
boards, grain was threshed in rail pens by the tramping of horses and cleaned by
winnowing in the wind, and transported in canoes and bateaux to Fort Vancouver
to market. Most of our clothing came from the Hudson's Bay Company, was all
of one size, and said to have been made to fit Dr. McLoughlin, who was a very large
man. Boots and shoes were more difficult to be obtained than any other article of
clothing ; as for myself I had no covering for my feet for two years, either summer
or winter, but buckskin moccasins, still I never enjoyed better health in my life.
******
A number of our company, probably one-third, dissatisfied with the winter and
not willing to wait and see what the summer would bring forth — acting on their
migratory instincts— determined early in the spring of 1843 to go to California.
It was said of some of those that they never remained in one place longer than to
obtain the means to travel; and of one family in particular, that they had prac-
tically lived in the wagon for more than twenty years, only remaining in one
locality long enough to make a crop, Avhich they had done in every State and Ter-
ritory in the Mississippi Valley. Accordingly, under the lead of L. W. Hastings,
they set out as soon as the weather would permit, and, after encountering some
difficulty with the Indians, they reached Sacramento Valley. Among this party
was Hon. Nathan Coombs, then a mere boy, who afterwards became a large land
owner and stock raiser in Napa Valley, and founder of the city of that name.
Uncle Tommy Shadden, who is here to-day, was also of that party. In the spring
of 1843 those of our party who remained in the country generally located claims in
different sections of the Willamette Vallej-, and laid the foundations for homes
they had traveled so far to obtain. These claims were by common consent recog-
nized and respected without other protection than public opinion until the pro-
visional government was established, which provided that non-residents could hold
claims by having them recorded and paying five dollars annually into the terri-
torial treasury.
It was in 1842 that the first regular educational institution in
Oregon was founded, one which has done noble work for the youth
of the coast, and which still flourishes under the management of its
founders, the Methodist Episcopal Church. On the seventeenth of
AMERICANS ORGAlSriZE A PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT. 251
January, 1842, at the call of Rev. Jason Lee, the people assembled
at Chemeketa, now North Salem, to consider the question of es-
tablishing an educational institution capable of meeting the wants of
the growing community. A committee was appointed and the meet-
ing adjourned till the first of February, when it convened in the old
mission building which had been erected in 1834. The Oregon
Institute was then founded with the following board of trustees:
Rev. Jason Lee, Rev. David Leslie, Rev. Gustavus Hines, Rev. J.
L. Parrish, Rev. L. H. Judson, Hon. George Abernethy, Alanson
Beers, H. Campbell and Dr. J. L. Babcock. A location on French
Prairie was first selected, but that place being deficient in pure
water, the institute was finally located on Wallace Prairie, two and
one-half miles below the present City of Salem. A constitution
was adopted on the fifteenth of March, and on the twenty-sixth of
October the school was formally placed under the charge of the
Methodist Episcopal Church.
The emigration of 1842, small though it was and diminished by
the migration of several families to California, served to materially
strengthen the independent American element. Those who were
desirous of organizing a government began again to canvass the
subject, the leading spirit being W. H. Gray, who had left his
associates — Whitman, Spalding, Eells and Walker — and settled in
the Willamette Valley. He gathered a few of the trusty ones at
his house to consult upon the best means of getting the people
together so as to get a spontaneous action from them before oppos-
ing influences could have time to work upon them. A simple but
effective plan was devised — one which worked to a charm. Many
domestic animals had been destroyed by wild beasts, decimating
the small herds of the settlers, and how to prevent such ravages had
become a serious question with every settler. It was decided to
call a meeting for the ostensible purpose of devising some means
for the protection of cattle fi'om the ravages of mid beasts, and
notice was accordingly sent throughout the valley for every settler
to attend such a meeting at the Oregon Institute on the second day
of February, 1843. The attendance was very large. Dr. Babcock
occupying the chair. The presiding officer was unaware of the
secondary object of the meeting, to the principle of which he was
unfavorable. A committee of six was appointed to submit a plan
252 .HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
of operations to an adjourned meeting to be held on the first Mon-
day in March, at the cabin of Joseph Gervais. These two gather-
ings are generally known among the pioneers as " Wolf meetings."
Prior to the second meeting LeBreton and a Mr, Smith quietly can-
vassed the sentiment of the people on the subject of a more com-
plete government, finding that quite a diversity of opinions prevailed.
There was a lyceum which met occasional^ at AVillamette Falls,
before which this question was introduced, and was discussed with
great animation. The decision there reached was that a government
at that time was inexpedient. A government was advocated by
Dr. McLoughlin — one which would be entirely independent of the
two nations claiming Oregon. L. W. Hastings, as attorney for the
Doctor, introduced the resolution, "That it is expedient for the
settlers of the coast to establish an Independent Government,"'*' and
this was the basis of the discussion. The negative side was taken
by George Abernethy and other Americans, the former introducing
another resolution for discussion the following w^eek. This was as
follow^s: '■'■ Resolved, That if the United States extends its jurisdic-
tion over this conntry within the next four years, it will not be ex-
pedient to form an Independent Government." After much earnest
discussion this w^as adopted, and the question was placed at rest,
apparently. Dr. White, the Indian Agent, advocated a government,
provided he were placed at its head; but the adoption of the last
resolution did not seem to offer him a certainty of such a happy
consummation. By these discussions the public mind w'as some-
what prepared for a step of some kind to be taken beyond that of
mere protection from wild beasts, and the consequence was that
the attendance at the second wolf meeting was even larger than
it would otherwise have been. James A. O'Neil, wlio had l^een
quietly notified of the ulterior purpose of the meeting, was called
to the chair, and he carried the proceedings as rapidly as possible
over the nominal object of the gathering, full pro\dsion being made
for the protection of the herds. William H. Gray then arose and
made the assembled settlers a little speech. He said that no one
would for a moment question the propriety and judiciousness of
their action. It was just and natural to thus seek to protect their
animals from the ravages of wolves, bears and panthers. Contin-
uing, he said: —
AMERICANS ORGANIZE A PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT. 253
How is it, fellow citizens, with you and me, and our wives and children ? Have
we any organization on which we can rely for mutual protection ? Is there any
power or influence in the country sufficient to protect us and all we hold dear from
the worse than wild beasts that threaten and occasionally destroy our cattle? Who
in our midst is authorized to call us together to protect our own and the lives of our
families? True, the alarm may be given, as in a recent case, and we may run who
feel alarmed, and shoot off' our guns, while our enemy may be robbing our property,
ravishing our wives, and burning our houses over our defenseless families. Com-
mon sense, prudence and justice to ourselves demand that we act consistent with
the principles that we have commenced. We have mutually and unitedly agreed
to defend and protect our cattle and do/nestic animals; now, fellow citizens, I sub-
mit and move the adoption of the two following resolutions, that we may have pro-
tection for our person and lives, as well as our cattle and herds: Resolved, That a
committee be appointed to take into consideration the propriety of taking measures
for the civil and military protection of this colony. Resolved, That said committee
consist of twelve persons.
The resolutions were unanimously adopted, and Dr. Babcock,
Dr. White, O'Neil, Shortess, Newell, Lueier, Gray, Gervais, Hub-
bard, M'Roy, Smith and Gay, were appointed to serve on the com-
mittee. About two weeks later the committee assembled at the
Falls, many other gentlemen being present and participating in
their deliberations. Rev. Jason Lee and George x\bernethy, as rep-
resentatives of the Methodist Mission sentiment, made speeches in
opposition to the proposed action. Unable to come to a definite
decision, the committee called a general meeting to be held at Cham-
poeg on the second of May, and then adjourned. A document op-
posing the proposed action, and styled " An address of the Canadian
citizens of Oregon to the, meeting at Champoeg," was prepared by
the anti-American element, and circulated among the Canadian
French population for signatures. This element held four meet-
ings to organize an opposition to the movement — one at Vancouver,
one at the Falls, and two at Champoeg. The Canadians were drilled
to vote "No" on all questions, and LeBreton, whose previous affili-
ation with the Catholic element gave him an opportunity to learn
of these plans, advised that some measure be introduced upon which
they should properly vote " Yes," to thus throw them into confu-
sion and expose their tactics. The settlers assembled at Champoeg
in force on the second day of May, and considerable skirmishing
was indulged in, the Canadians invariably voting "No" on all
questions without reference to the bearing they had upon the in-
terests they represented and becoming much demoralized in conse-
quence. LeBreton, \y\io had made a careful canvass of those in
254 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
attendance, finally exclaimed, "We can risk it, let us divide and
count!" Gray shouted, "I second the motion!" Jo. Meek then
stepped quickly out of the crowd, and raising his voice to a high
pitch, shouted, " Who's for a divide ? All for the report of the com-
mittee and organization, follow me?" The Americans quickly
ranged themselves on his side, and a count developed the fact that
fifty-two stood in line with him and only fifty on the opposhig side.
"Three cheers for our side!" exclaimed Meek, and as the responsive
cheers rose in the air, the defeated Canadians withdrew and grad-
ually left the victors to conduct the remainder of the proceedings to
suit themselves.
The Committee of ^Twelve then reported in favor of the selec-
tion of a Legislative Committee, and this plan was adopted. Messrs.
Hill, Shortess, Newell, Beers, Hubbard, Gray, O'Neil, Moore and
Dougherty, were selected for the committee, and were instructed to
report a plan of government to a meeting to be held at Champoeg
on the fifth of July. Their session was limited to six days, and
their per diem was fixed at $1.25, which was at once contributed
to the Government by the members. Beers, Parrish and Babcock
volunteered to provide gratuitously for the board of the committee,
and the Mission tendered the free use of its old granary for a council
chamber. The committee assembled at the Falls on the tenth of
May, in the building mentioned, certainly a most unpretentious
structure for the deliberations of a legislature. It was a frame
building, 16x30 feet, and one and one-half stories high, the upper
portion being used as a sleeping apartment and storage room. The
lower story was divided into two compartments, one of them doing
duty as a school room and church, and the other as a warehouse for
the 'Storage of wheat. Such were the accommodations enjoyed by
the first Legislature of Oregon. It was a plain, serviceable struc-
ture, and they were plain, matter-of-fact men who had met there to
deliberate for the public good. The Legislature opened its session
by choosing Robert Moore for Chairman, and George W. LeBreton
for Secretary. The question of an executive head for the govern-
ment was first considered ; and this was a matter of considerable
delicacy. The interests represented by the various inhabitants of
Oregon, as has been shown, were quite distinct, and in some re-
spects, were inclined to clash with each other. To choose an exec-
AMERICANS ORGANIZE A PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT. 255
utive from any one of these was calculated to array the others in
either open or covert hostility to the Government. It was finally
decided that it would, under the circumstances, be judicious to re-
pose that authority in an Executive Committee of three persons,
who should represent the strongest and most desirable interests
among the various classes to be included in their jurisdiction. The
Legislature adjourned after a session of three days.
On the fifth of July the people again assembled at Champoeg
to hear the report of the Legislative Committee, the meeting being
presided over by Rev. Gustavus Hines. The Canadian citizens who
signed the address spoken of above were present in force at the
meeting on the second of May and participated in the proceedings,
votino; agjainst orsranization, as has been related. Their address
was not then presented, but later was placed in the hands of a sub-
committee of three to whom the Legislative Committee had dele-
gated the task of arranging the laws passed by them for submission
to the meeting now under discussion. After examining it the com-
mittee returned it to the Secretary, with instructions to file it among
the public documents, as a record of the interests and persons op-
posed to the organization of a government. At the meeting now
being considered many of them were present and took part, ex-
pressing themselves as favorably disposed towards the object sought
to be obtained by the Americans. Others, however, declined to
attend, and asserted that they would not submit to the authority of
any gc>vernment which might be organized. This was also the po-
sition assumed by the Catholic Missionaries and the representatives
of the Hudson's Bay Company, the latter even addressing a com-
munication to the leaders of the organization movement, stating that
they felt abundantly able to defend both themselves and their po-
litical rights. This was the status of affairs when Mr. Hines an-
nounced the meeting as prepared to hear the report of the com-
mittee.
The report of the committee was presented by Chairman Moore
and read by the Secretary, Mr. LeBreton. The debate which fol-
lowed was exceedingly animated, Mr. Hines vigorously opposing
the three-fold executive head proposed by the committee. Dr. Bab-
cock also opposed it on the ground that it looked too much like a
permanent form of government, instead of the temporary makeshift
256 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
whicli he supposed was the object of the gathering. O'Neil and
Shortess sustained the report, and Mr. Gray made a forcible, and,
as it appears, a convincing, argument in its favor, using the follow-
ing language: —
Mb. President aNd Fellow Citizens: — The speech which we have just
listened to, from oyr presiding officer (G. H. Hines) is in the main correct. It is
true that the Legislative Committee were not instructed to bring before you an
executive department in the law and government you proposed to form, when you
appointed your committee to prepare these laws. It is also true that when that
committee met they found that they could not advance one stej) in accomplishing
the work you instructed them to perform, without some supervising influence some-
where ; in short, without a head. Their instructions being against a governor,
they have provided an Executive Committee in place of a single man for governor.
The executive head is to act in place of a senate council and governor. This pro-
vision is before you for your approval or rejection. With the Executive Committee
our organization is complete; without it, we have no head; no one to see that our
laws are executed, and no one to grant a reprieve or pardon in case the law should
be enforced against the life or property of any one for the violation of any law, no
matter what the circumstances connected with the real or supposed violation
might be.
******
Now, fellow citizens, let us look calmly at our true situation. We are two thou-
sand five hundred miles from any point from which we can receive the least assist-
ance by land, and seventeen thousand miles by water. A portion of our community
are organized and ready to protect themselves, and to defend all their rights and
interests. Another organization of a religious character is in our midst— I should
say, two. They each have a head or executive. How is it with us? Who is our
head in all that pertains to our civil liberty, rights and property ? It is possible the
gentleman may wish us to remain as unprotected, as helpless and exposed to all the
dangers that surround us on every hand as we have heretofore been. If he does,
you, fellow citizens, I am sure do not wish to add to his feebleness by destroying
the organization you have commenced, because he is afraid of what some Caesar did
in Rome. We are acting for ourselves and those immediately dependent upon us
for protection. In union there is strength. I believe you are fully satisfied your
committee acted honorably, and, as they thought, for the good of all they repre-
sented. If such is the case, you will approve of their acts, and our organization
will be complete as they have prepared it for this meeting.
A vote was then taken, which resulted in an almost unanimous
adoption of the report. The next thing in order was the election
of the necessary officers. Alanson Beers, David Hill and Joseph
Gale were chosen for the Executive Committee, and thus the first
regular government in Oregon was provided. That this was a
movement purely American, and the government of a tem];)orary
character only, is attested by the preamble to the laws adopted,
which states that: —
We, the people of Oregon Territory, for the purpose of mutual protection, and
to secure peace and prosperity among ourselves, agree to adojit the following laws
AltfERICANS ORGANIZE A PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT. 257
and regulations, until such time as the United States of America extend their ju-
risdiction over us.
The following certificate was issued to tlie Executive Committee
as a warrant of office: —
This certifies that David Hill, Alanson Beers and Joseph Gale, were chosen the
Executive Committee of the Territory of Oregon, by the people of said Territory,
and have taken the oath for the faithful performance of the duties of their offices,
as required by law. *
GEORGE W. LeBRETON, Recorder.
Wallamet, Oregon Territory, July 5, 1843.
Says Mr. Thornton, in speaking of the place where these pro-
ceedings were taken: —
It may not be quite uninteresting to say that the State House in which all this
was done was in several respects different from that in which laws are made at
Washington City. The Oregon State House was built with posts set upright, one
end set in the ground, grooved on two sides, and filled in with poles and split tim-
ber, such as would be suitable for fence rails, with plates and jjoles across the top.
Rafters and horizontal poles, instead of iron ribs, held the cedar bark which was
used instead of thick copper for roofing. It was twenty by forty feet, and did not
therefore cover three acres and a half. At one end some puncheons were put up for
a platform for the President ; some poles and slabs were placed around for seats;
three planks about one foot wide and twelve feet long, jDlaced upon a sort of stake
platform for a table, were all that was believed to be necessary for the use of the
Legislative Committee and the clerks. It is due to the people who met to approve
or disapprove of the acts of that committee, to say that perfect order and decorum
characterized all the proceedings of July 5th, 1843.
The following officers, chosen at the meeting on the second of
May, were continued in office until the election of their successors
on the second Tuesday in May, 1844, at which time, also, a Legis-
lative Committee of nine was to be chosen: A. E. Wilson, Supreme
Judge; G. W. LeBreton, Clerk and Recorder; J. L. Meek, Sheriff;
W. H. Willsou, Treasurer; A. B. Smith, ^ Compo, L. H. Jud-
son and Hugh Burns, Magistrates ; Squire Ebbetts, F. X. Matthieu
and Reuben Lewis, Constables; John Howard, Major; S. Smith,
C. McRoy and William McCarty, Captains.
Having thus related the steps taken for the organization of a
government, it is in order to consider the great immigration of
1843, which arrived a few weeks later, and created such a pre-
ponderance of American sentiment that the stability of the Pro-
visional Government was assured. There were, however, a few in-
cidents which occurred prior to that great era in Oregon history,
whose effect upon the subsequent events was extremely marked, and
thus renders them of comparative importance. These relate to in-
258 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
cidents growing out of the intense competition of the opposing mis-
sionaries for spiritual control of the natives. In 1841 the Catholics
made ]3i'oselytes of the Cascades Indians, who had formerly been
under the influence of the Methodist Mission at The Dalles, com-
pletely winning them away from Mr. Waller. This greatly in-
tensified the existing bitterness between the religious factions. The
Catholics were rapidly growing in power and influence, the Method-
ists were as rapidly declining, and the missions of the American
Board were making but feeble progress. Aside fi'om the ascen-
dency gradually being acquired by the Catholics, there was one
peculiar reason why the Protestant missionaries lost favor with the
Indians; and this was their affiliation with the American settlers,
who were regarded by tlie natives as intruders. They did not want
white people to settle here and take possession of the land over which
they and their fathers had ruled for years. This feeling led the
Nez Perce chief Ellis, in 1840, to forbid A. B. Smith to cultivate a
patch of gi'ound on the Alpowa. The Hudson's Bay Company en-
couraged the idea among the Indians that the missions were but
stepping-stones to American occupation, and this idea was supported
by the conduct of those in charge of the Methodist mission in the
Willamette, which had become the general headquarters for Amer-
ican settlers, as well as the energetic and prominent part taken by
Dr. Whitman in bringing immigrants into Oregon. The fur com-
pany had been here for years, and had not only not taken their
lands, but had supplied them with a market for their furs and
horses; yet the Americans, who were but newcomers, were already
taking away their laifids, and more arrived yearly. The outgrowth
of this was a feeling of bitterness against the Americans and the
Protestant missionaries, in which neither the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany nor the Catholics were included; and this feeling intensified
fi'om year to year. It was manifested in 1841 b}" insulting and
threatening conduct towards the missionaries both at Waiilatpu and
Lapwai, and in 1842 this became so threatening that an effort was
made to check it. Dr. Elijah A\'Tiite, whose arrival that fall with
authority as an Indian Agent has been noted, paid a visit to the
Nez Perces in November, accompanied by Thomas McKay and Mr.
Archibald McKinlay, agent at Fort Walla Walla. A treaty was
concluded, and the tribe adopted a system of laws, in which the
I
AMEEICANS ORGANIZE A PEOVISIOI^AL GOVERNMENT. 259
general principles of right and justice were embodied in a form suit-
able to their customs and condition. The same laws were adopted
by the Wascopums, at The Dalles, but nothing was accomplished
with the Cayuses. The next year Baptiste Dorion, a half-breed in-
terpreter for the Hudson's Bay Company, upon his own responsibil-
ity, circulated the story that the Americans were coming up in the
summer to take their lands. This created great excitement among the
tribes along the base of the Blue Mountains, and the young braves
wanted to go to the Willamette at once and exterminate the settlers.
They were held in check by the older ones, while Peo-peo-mux-
mux, the great Walla Walla chief, went to Vancouver to investi-
gate. He was informed by Dr. McLoughlin that he did not believe
the Americans entertained such an idea, and his report to the tribes
allayed the excitement to a certain extent. Dr. White went up in
April to hold a council with the Cayuses, and they adopted the
Nez Perce laws, electing Five Crows, who lived on the Umatilla
not far from the site of Pendleton, as head chief. The result of
this was to restore the feeling of security for a time. Several French
Canadians were to have accompanied Dr. White, but were advised
to remain at home by Dr. McLoughlin. This action of the Chief
Factor has been severely censured and has served as an argument
to prove that the Hudson's Bay Company was stirring up the
Indians to drive the Americans from the country. The Amer-
ican settlers had but a few days before unanimously signed a
memorial to Congress, in which Dr. McLoughlin was severely cen-
sured. About this time, also, Father Demers arrived fi*om the in-
terior and informed him that the Indians were only incensed against
the Boston people, and had nothing against the French and King
George people; but they were determined the Bostons should not
have their lands and take away their liberties. Learning that his
people were in no danger, and smarting under the undeserved
charges in the memorial, it is not at all unnatural that he should
say: "Let the Americans take care of themselves." It was thus
matters stood when the great immigration of 1843 arrived, demon-
strating to the Indians that their fears were far from gi'oundless.
CHAPTEE XVI.
DR. WHITMAN AND THE EMIGRATION OF 1843.
What Induced the Kmigration of 18Jf3 — Steps Taken to Organize the
Movement — Dr. Whitmaii's Character — His anxiety to Americanize
Oregon — The Ashhurton Treaty and the Cod- Fishery — Whitman/ s
Decision to Visit Washington — The Waiilajptu Meeting — The Un-
fortunate Controversy over the Sernices of Dr. Whitman — Gray^s
Walla Walla Romance — Its Absurdity Pointed Out — The Facts —
Whitman and Lovejofs Journey— Extent of Whitman's Influence
in Indiicing Emigration — His Visit to Washington and Boston —
Organization and Journey of the Emigrants — List of Emigrants
■and Population of Oregon in 18Jf.3 — Fremonfs Exploring Party.
IN nearly all previous writings upon this subject the emigra-
tion of 1843 has been considered from the wrong end — from
the Oregon end — the destination of the emigrants, instead of the
Mississippi Valley, their starting point. It should be viewed fi'om
the place where the movement had its inception, to obtain a correct
and adequate understanding of the subject. The great emigra-
tion to Oregon that year was the result of causes which had been
at work for a number of years, and was not a hasty and ill-consid-
ered action of people suddenly aroused by the voice of one man, as
it has too often been represented.
With the diplomatic negotiations which terminated in a treaty
of joint occupation ; with the efforts of Hall J. Kelley and others to
induce emigration to Oregon, and with the struggle made by Bon-
neville, Wyeth and others to enjoy practically the theoretical bene-
iits of the compromise treaty, the previous pages have dealt at
length. All these had a tendency to turn the attention of the peo-
ple towards this far-off land, and especially of those hardy, self-re-
liant and adventuresome men who were then building up those
DR. WHITMAN AND THE EMIGRATION OF FORTY -THREE, 261
powerful States which lie in the Valley of the Mississippi. They
received better, more direct and more reliable information of the
character and accessibility of Oregon than did the residents of the
Atlantic slope, whose ideas of this region were largely formed from
the depreciatory writings of English authors. As has before been
said, Irving^s "Astoria" and "Bonneville," Dr. Parker's book, the
letter written in 1839 by Robert Shortess, Congressional reports
and debates, and other brief publications had given those who
eared to read them pretty correct ideas of Oregon. The trappers
who had in person visited this region in some of their numerous
journeys through the mountainous West, or had learned them fi-om
the lips of such of theii^ companions as had done so, sang the
praises of Oregon's mild climate and the beautiful Valley of the
Willamette, along the whole frontier. Oregon became a familiar
word in St. Louis and throughout the region bordering on the Mis-
sissippi and tributaiy to that great center of the fur trade. The
"Oregon Bills"' introduced into Congress in the fall of 1842 by
Senator Linn, of Missouri, have been referred to, as well as theii'
consignment to temporary oblivion by his death the following year.
These attracted much attention along the frontier, and hundreds
who had previously been deterred from following their inclination
to emigrate to this land of dispute, becoming convinced that it was
the intention of the Government to assert in earnest its claim to
this region, and that the bill donating to each emigrant one section
of land would be passed, resolved to make the hazardous journey.
Said one of these. Gen. E. L. Applegate, in a recent speech: —
This proposition deeply touched the heart of the western pioneer. He had
probably crossed the Blue Ridge or the C umberland Mountains when a boy, and
was now in his prime. Rugged, hardy and powerful of frame, he was full to over-
flowing with the love of adventure, and animated by a brave soul that scorned the
very idea of fear. All had heard of the perpetually green hills and plains of West-
ern Oregon, and how that the warm breath of the vast Pacific tempered the air to
the genial degree and drove winter far back towards the north. Many of them
contrasted in the imagination the open stretch of a mile square of rich, green and
grassy land, where the strawberry plant bloomed through every winter month,
with their circumscribed clearings in the Missouri Bottom. Of long winter evenings
neighbors visited each other, and before the big shell-bark hickory fire, the seasoned
walnut fire, the dry black jack fire, or the roaring dead elm fire, they talked these
things over; and, as a natural consequence, under these favorable circumstances,
the spirit of emigration warmed up ; and the "Oregon fever" became as a house-
hold expression. Thus originated the vast cavalcade, or emigrant ti-ain, stretch-
ing its serpentine length for miles, enveloped in the vast pillars of dust, patiently
262 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
wending its toilsome way across the American Continent. How familiar these
scenes and experiences with the old pioneers ! The vast plains ; the uncountable
herds of buffalo ; the swift-footed antelope; the bands of mounted, painted warriors;
the rugged snow-capped mountain ranges ; the deep, swift and dangerous rivers ;
the lonesome howl of the wild wolf; the midnight yell of the assaulting savage;
the awful panic and stampede ; the solemn and silent funeral at the dead hour
of night, and the lonely and hidden graves of departed friends — what memories
are associated with the "plains across ! "
The first united effort was a meeting held in Alton, 111., on the
eighth of Novembei', 1842, at which were passed resolutions urging
the importance of a speedy occupation of Oregon. These resolu-
tions were introduced by General Semple, a prominent citizen of
that State who had taken great interest in this region, and were
supported by him in an eloquent speech. Another meeting was
held at Springfield, the State Capital, on the fifth of the following
February, which was participated in by many distinguished men
of Illinois, and similar resolutions were passed. One of those
present was the gifted and eloquent Col. E. D. Baker, who after-
wards became a United States Senator fi^om Oregon, and, strange
to say, he was one of two gentlemen who spoke in opposition to the
resolutions. The following July, several weeks after the emigra-
tion had taken up its toilsome march, " a Convention of Delegates
from the States and Territories of the West and Southwest" as-
sembled in Cincmnati, and passed resolutions urging Congress to
assert the claim of the United States as far north as " fifty-four-
forty " immediately. How this became a political question the fol-
lowing year, will be made clear in the next chapter.
In these various ways quite an interest was stirred up in the
Mississippi States, during the winter, and it became generally un-
derstood, and was so announced by the few papers printed along
the border, that a large emigration would start for Oregon the fol-
lowing spring, rendezvousing at Independence, Missouri.
It is now that Dr. Whitman appears upon the scene, and to ex-
plain his sudden entre it is necessary to relate incidents occurring in
Oregon the summer and fall previous. Although, for geographical
reasons, he did not participate in the various efforts of the settlers
in the Willamette Valley to form a Provisional Government, his
heart was in the movement. He was the most keenly alive to the
necessities of the hour, and more watchful of the true interests of
the Americans than even the most prominent actors in the govern-
DR. WHITMAN AND THE EMIGKATION OF FORTY-THREE. 268
mental agitation. He was a true American, jealous of his country's
honor and zealous to promote her interests. His faith in the future
— the American future — of Oregon was unbounded, and his mind
penetrated the misty veil with prophetic power. As early as
1838 an incident occurred which revealed his abiding faith in the
destiny of Oregon. Dr. William C. McKay relates an anecdote
which is of importance to show Whitman's ideas on this subject at
that early day. His father, Thomas McKay, decided to send him
to Scotland to be educated, and with this end in xdew they started
up the Columbia. AVhitman and McKay being warm friends, they
decided to spend a few days at Waiilatpu, where they were to
separate, AVilliam to accompany the annual Montreal express by
the Manitoba route, and his father to proceed to Fort Hall, where
he was the company's agent. Dr. Whitman urged McKay to send
his son to the United States to be educated. " Make an American
of him," said he, "for this country will surely belong to the Ameri-
cans." McKa}^ was convinced, and William's route was changed
fi-om Manitoba to the Fcrt Hall trail. He went to Fairfield, N.
Y., and entered the same school at which Dr. Whitman was edu-
cated, returning to Oregon a few years later as a medical practi-
tioner. Several other incidents, the details of which it is needless
to relate, confirm the statement that the Doctor was a true, zealous,
watchful and energetic guardian of American interests in Oregon.
When Governor Simpson visited this region in the fall of 1841,
followed a few days later by the immigrants from Red River, whose
arrival has been previously noted, Dr. Whitman, with his acute per-
ceptive qualities, in a measure defined the intentions of the company.
He realized with the convincing force of a revelation, that nothing
but a great and unt^xpected influx of American . immigrants could
thwart the deep-laid plans of the great corporation. He became
restless and anxious. It seemed to him that it was necessary for
some one to return to the States and arouse the people and the
Government to the exigencies of the hour. Procrastination was
dangerous and supine inaction was fatal; yet his missionary work
was a charge upon his mind which could not be lightly shaken off.
When the immigration of 1842 arrived, as has been related, many
of them camped for a time in the vicinity of the mission. Among
these was A. Lawrence Lovejoy, with whom Whitman frequently
264 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
and earnestly conversed on the subject of Oregon and events and
opinions in the East affecting it. He learned that Lord Ashburton,
an embassador of Great Britain, was even then in AVashington ne-
gotiating for a settlement of the boundary line between Canada and
the United States; and naturally supposing that in this the Oregon
Question was involved, he became convinced that it was his dut}' to
proceed to Washington with all dispatch possible, and enlighten the
Government upon the subject, knowing full wtII that the value of
this magnificent region was not in the least realized by the author-
ities or the people generally. It has been frequently stated that the
Government w^as considering a proposition made by Lord Ashbur-
ton to abandon all claim to Oregon, in consideration of certain fish-
ing privileges on the Atlantic coast of British America, and that this
intelligence was conveyed to Whitman by Lovejoy. How this took
its rise it is impossible to ascertain, as all efforts to trace it to a source
have been futile. Lovejoy does not say so in his account of these
events ; no one has testified that Whitman ever made such an asser-
tion, and it seems utterly mthout foundation. The records of the
State Department do not disclose any such negotiations; they were
publically and emphatically denied by Daniel Webster, through
whom, as Secretary of State, the negotiations were conducted, and,
finally, the Oregon Question was not included in the negotiations
at all, which had sole reference to the unsettled boundary line
further east. To be sure it is now claimed — and it was not so at
first — that this portion of the negotiations was secret and confiden-
tial; but if such was the case it becomes still more incumbent upon
those who make the assertion to produce some kind of evidence
which will weigh against the positive denial of one of the principal
•actors. No such evidence has ever been produced, and it rests solely
upon unsupported assertion. It is evident that the cod fishery
episode, with all the changes that have been rung upon it by dra-
matically disposed writers and enthusiastic speakers, is utterly mth-
out foundation.
As it was, however, Whitman decided that his duty to his
country was paramount to his duty to the American Board, and he
determined to return East. About this time, probably at the hands
of the emigrants. Whitman received notice from the Board that it
had decided to discontinue the missions, which were very expensive
DR. WHITMAN AND THE EMIGRATION OF FORTY-THREE. 265
and were making unsatisfactory progress, and though this, proba-
bly, had something to do with his determination to go East, his
conduct while there shows this consideration to have been a second-
ary one. He summoned his associates from the Lapwai and Tshim-
akain missions, to consult in regard to the matter. Spalding, Gray,
Eells and Walker promptly responded to the call, and when the
Doctor laid before them the plan he had formed, they opposed it
unanimously. To their objection that politics should not be per-
mitted to interfere with missionary work, he replied that his first
duty was to his country, and if necessary to choose between the two
he would ret^ign his mission. Knowing his inflexible character and
deep convictions of duty, they dared no longer oppose him for fear
of losing the master spirit of their mission. Says Mr. Eells: "We
yielded only when it became evident that he would go, even if he
had to become disconnected with the mission in order to do so."
AVhitman was accordingly officially delegated to proceed to Boston
to transact business pertaining to the missions, and the various mis-
sionaries departed to their several stations to prepare reports and
letters for him to take, the date of his departure being fixed at the
fifth of October. This was done in order to conceal the real object
of such an unprecedented undertaking — a winter journey across the
mountains. An official record of this meeting was kept, upon the
face of which appeared only the proceedings which had reference to
missionary work. This was destroyed at the time of the Whitman
Massacre, but its loss is immaterial, except that it would determine
the date of the meeting. As to the nature of the proceedings, there
is sufficient reliable oral testimony to settle that beyond dispute.
Mr. Eells, whose word no one who knew him would ever question,
says the meeting was held in September. He adds: "After an
extended discussion, it was voted unanimously that Dr. Whitman
have the approval of the mission to attempt to make the journey as
hereinbefore indicated. The controlling object was to make a des-
perate attempt to save the country to the United States. It was
also expected that the opportunity would be improved for the
transaction of business relating to the mission. The fifth of the
the following October was set as the day on which Dr. Whitman
would start. Letters were to be prepared and forwarded accord-
266 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
ingly. Probably events transpiring in tlie intervening time hastened
his departure, so that he left on the third of October."
This feature of Oregon history has been the subject of much lit-
erary controversy. No one can have read the preceding pages with-
out having become convinced of the sterling integrity, firmness of
purpose and energy of action of Dr. Whitman. His character and
services to the American cause entitle him to the first place among
those whose memory the citizens of Oregon should ever revere, and
whom all true Americans should honor; yet zealous friends have in
their eagerness to place laurels on his brow, claimed for him more
than he ever would have sanctioned or permitted had he not fallen
before the treacherous blows of ungrateful savages. In their zeal
they have allowed their imaginations to take too lofty flights and
have wandered too far into the realms of romance. That most of
these have been absolutely sincere, their sympathies, perhaps, being
somewhat too deeply stirred by denominational influences, is beyond
question ; yet so much can not be said of the author of the ques-
tionable story upon which has been laid the foundation of their
claims, who, apparently, was actuated by the desire to shine in
the reflected light which would naturally fall upon him as an asso-
ciate with the martyred missionary in his early labors among the
Indians. In this he overshot the mark, and drew down upon him-
upon
self the vigorous criticism of those who, wishing not to in the least
detract from the just merits of Dr. Whitman, earnestly desired that
the actual facts only should find a place in recorded history. It is
to be regretted that certain writers have been led by their disbelief
in this romance to take the negative throughout, and not only deny
Dr. Whitman any honor whatever, but even accuse him of deceit-
ful, treacherous and selfish conduct. Such writers are open to the
same charge of prejudice and unfairness which they lay at the door
of the author of this unfortunate controversy. Well might Dr.
Whitman exclaim — with others whose reputation has been jeopard-
ized by mistaken zeal — "Save, me from my friends!" The contro-
versy has not been without its benefits. It has settled beyond dispute
in the minds of those who have given the subject a just and careful
consideration, the permanent and exalted position Dr. Whitman
must ever occupy in the annals of Oregon. To establish this the
romance was unnecessary, yet as it has been widely circulated, and
DR. WHITMAN AND THE EMIGRATION OF FORTY-THREE. 267
finds a place in a number of historical sketches and ostensible
histories of Oregon, it becomes necessary to relate it, together
with the few simple, undeniable facts which refute it. This ro-
mance was not the production of Mr. Eells. That gentleman
never unchained his fancy when relating facts. He would not un-
dertake the hazardous feat of reproducing the exact language used
by several people in a conversation occurring thirty years before,
at which he was not present, and \dth the bare substance, of which
he could alone be acquainted. That such was attempted indicates
how little the necessity of adhering to the exact facts weighed upon
the mind of the author of the romance. It was first o-iven to the
world in Gray's " History of Oregon," published a number of years
ago by William H. Gray, whose intense Americanism and bitter
antagonism to the Hudson's Bay Company led him to take the
prominent and leading part we have just seen he acted in the or-
ganization of the Provisional Government, and which, becoming in-
tensified and more firmly settled as the years rolled b}^, rendered
him incompetent to form an unjDrejudiced opinion or do justice
to those to whom he was instinctively opposed. The work referred
to contains the following paragraph: —
In September, 1842, Dr. Whitman was called to visit a patient at old Fort Walla
Walla. While there a number of boats of the Hudson's Bay Company, with sev-
eral chief traders and Jesuit priests, on their way to the interior of the country,
arrived. While at dinner, the overland express from Canada arrived, brins^ing news
that the emigration from the Red River settlement was at Colville. This news
excited universal joy among the guests. One of them, a young priest, sang out:
"Hurrah for Oregon, America is too late; we have got the country !" "Now the
Americans may whistle; the country is ours!'' said another. Whitman learned
that the company had arranged for these Red River English settlers to come on to
settle in Oregon, and at the same time Governor Simpson was to go to Washington
and secure the settlement of the question as to the boundaries, on the ground of the
most numerous and permanent settlement in the country. The Doctor was taunted
with the idea that no power could prevent this result, as no information could
reach Washington in time to prevent it. " It shall he prevented^'''' said the Doctor,
"^/ I have to go to Washington myself. ^^ " But you can not go there to do it," was
the taunting reply of the Briton. ''I will see," was the Doctor's reply. The reader
is sufficiently acquainted with the history of this man's toil and labor in bringing
his first wagon through to Fort Boise, to understand what he meant when he said,
'■'■Iivill see.'''' Two hours after this conversation at the fort, he dismounted from his
horse at his door at Waiilatpu. I saw in a moment that he was fixed on some im-
portant object or errand. He soon explained that a special effort must be made to
save the country from becoming British territory. Everything was in the best of
order about the station, and there seemed to be no important reason why he should
not go. A. L. Lovejoy, Esq., had a few days before arrived with the immigration.
268 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
It was proposed that he should accompany the Doctor, which he consented to do,
and in twenty-four hours' time they were well mounted and on their way to the
States.
Thougli its melodramatic style at once stamps it as a piece of
fiction, it is as well to point out the certain evidences of its inac-
curacy. First — The Ked liiver emigration came in the year be-
fore, as has already been related, and there were no emigrants from
that region in 1842. Second — Archibald McKinlay, the gentleman
in charge of Fort Walla Walla and a warm personal friend of Dr.
Whitman, not only indignantly denies the imputation that he would
permit him to be thus insulted while his guest, but states that there
was no one at the fort at the time of the visit referred to except the
half dozen regular attaches, and that the Montreal express did not
arrive until two weeks after Whitman's departure for the East,
during which time Mrs. Whitman was a guest at the foi't, proceed-
ing to Vancouver under the protection of the express brigade.
Thii'd — AVhitman's resolution to go East, as has been amply shown
above, was not a suddenly conceived one, as Gray asserts, but was
the result of long consideration and deliberate decision, the exact
day having been fixed for his departure prior to this visit to Walla
Walla, as Gray must have known, since he had participated in the
meeting at AVaiilaptu. No news had come overland from the East
except such as the American emigrants had brought, and of this
Whitman was thoroughly informed before he went to AValla Walla. .
To meet this objection the adherents to Gray's version have of late >
dropped the Canada express, and put the intelligence which created
such a scene of joy in the mouths of the brigade referred to as going
up the river; but they omit to state from what source this party
derived its gratifying information. Some of them are also equally
as reckless as the author of the fiction in the line of attempting to
relate the exact language employed by Whitman and the enthusi-
siastic Briton. It is needless to remark that they all succeed in
placing different words in the mouths of the principal actors in the
scene portrayed. Let us return to the domain of facts. Whitman
did pay a visit to Fort Walla AValla, his object in doing so being
variously stated by persons then at Waiilatpu. Some say that he
went as a physician to render professional service to a sick person;
but Dr. Geiger, who, at the request of Whitman, had consented to
DR. WHITMAN AND THE EMIGRATION OF FORTY-THREE. 269
remain in charge of the mission during the Doctor's absence in the
East, states that it was to interview his Mend McKinhiy in regard
to the situation. Nothing remarkable occurred, but the visit whet-
ted Whitman's anxiety to depart, and as the papers from Lapwai
and Tshimihain had been received, he decided to start at once and
not wait until the day previously decided upon, thus saving two
days at the beginning of his journey. On the third of October,
1842, Whitman and Lovejoy turned their backs upon Oregon and
entered boldly upon a journey they knew would be attended with
hardships and suffering such as they had never before experienced.
The only records of this memorable journey are a letter by Mr. Love-
joy detailing the incidents of the trip across the mountains, and de-
tached and fragmentary statements by several gentlemen who claim
to have conversed with Whitman on the subject, by emigrants who
saw him in the train in 1843, and by several parties who saw him
in the East, at St. Louis, AVashiugton and Boston. From the noble
martyr himself there comes no word, save a letter written while at
St. Louis the following spring, which incontestably establishes the
fact that he was doing his utmost to promote a large emigration
and to be of personal assistance to the emigrants. From these are
gleaned the following facts, ones which no reasonable person will
dispute. Of that memorable journey Lovejoy's letter says: —
We left Waiilatpu October 3, 1842, traveled rapidly, reached Fort Hall in eleven
days, remained two days to recruit and make a few purchases. The Doctor engaged
a guide and we left for Fort Wintee. We changed from a direct route to one more
southern, through the Spanish country via Salt Lake, Taos and Santa Fe. On our
way from Fort Hall to Fort W^intee we had terribly severe weather. The snows
retarded our progress and blinded the trail so we lost much time. After arriving at
Fort Wintee and making some purchases for our trip, we took a new guide and
started for Fort Uncumpagra, situated on the waters of Grand River, in the Spanish
country. Here our stay was very short. We took a new guide and started for Taos.
After being out some four or five days we encountered a terrific snow storm, which
forced us to take shelter in a deep ravine, where we remained snowed in for four
days, at which time the storm had somewhat abated, and we attempted to make
our way out upon high lands, but the snow was so deep and the winds so piercing
and cold we were compelled to return to camp and wait a few days for a change of
weather. Our next effort to reach the high lands was more successful ; but after
spending several days wandering around in the snow without making much head-
way, our guide told us that the deep snow had so changed the face of the country
that he was completely lost and could take us no further. This was a terrible blow
to the Doctor, but he was determined not to give it up without another effort. We
at once agreed that the Doctor should take the guide and return to Fort Uncumpagra
and get a new guide, and I remain in camp with the animals until he could return ;
which he did in seven days with our new guide, and we were now on our route
270 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
again. Nothing of mucli import occurred but hard and slow traveling through
deep snow until we reached Grand River, which was frozen on either side about
one-third across. Altliough so intensely cold, the current was so very rapid about
one-third of the river in the center was not frozen. Our guide thought it would be
dangorous to attempt to cross the river in its present condition, but the Doctor,
nothing daunted, was the first to take the water. He mounted his horse; the guide
and myself shoved the Doctor and his horse off the ice into the foaming stream.
Away he went, completely under water, horse and all, but directly came up, and
after buffeting the rapid, foaming current, he reached the ice on the opposite shore,
a long way down the stream. He leaped from his horse upon the ice and soon had
his noble animal by his side. The guide and myself forced in the pack animals
and followed the Doctor's example, and were soon on the opposite shore drying
our frozen clothes by a comfortable fire. We reached Taos in about thirty days,
suffering greatly from cold and scarcity of provisions. We were compelled to use mule
meat, dogs, and such other animals as came in our reach. We remained at Taos a few
days only, and started for Bent's and Savery's Fort, on the head waters of the
Arkansas River. When we had been out some fifteen or twenty days, we met
George Bent, a brother of Governor Bent, on his way to Taos. He told us that a
party of mountain men would leave Bent's Fort in a few days for St. Louis, but
said we would not reach the fort with our pack animals in time to join the party.
The Doctor being very anxious to join the party so he could push on as rapidly as
possible to Washington, concluded to leave myself and the guide with the animals,
and he himself taking the best animal with some bedding and a small allowance
of provisions, started alone, hoping by rapid traveling to reach the fort in time to
join the St. Louis party, but to do so he would have to travel on the Sabbath, some-
thing he had not done before. Myself and the guide traveled on slowly, and reached
the fort in four days, but imagine our astonishment when on making inquiry about
the Doctor we were told that he had not arrived nor had he been heard of. I
learned that the party for St. Louis was camped at the Big Cottonwood, forty miles
from the fort, and at my request Mr. Savery sent an express, telling the party not
to proceed any further until we learned something of Dr. Whitman's whereabouts,
as he wished to acconipany them to St. Louis. Being furnished by the gentlemen
of the fort with a suitable guide, I started in search of the Doctor, and traveled
up the river about one hundred miles. I learned from the Indians that a man had
been there who was lost and was trying to find Bent's Fort. They said they had
directed him to go down the river and how to find the fort. I knew from their
description it was the Doctor. I returned to the fort as rapidly as possible, but the
Doctor had not arrived. We had all become very anxious about him. Late in the
afternoon he came in very much fatigued and desponding; said that he knew that
God had bewildered him to punish him for traveling on the Sabbath. During the
whole trip he was very regular in his morning and evening devotions, and that
was the only time I ever knew him to travel on the Sabbath.
Whitman at once .pushed on with the mountaineers, leaving
Lovejoy at Bent's Fort, and reached St. Louis in February. There
he inquired eagerly about the status of negotiations on the Oregon
Question, and learned that the Ash burton- Webster treaty had been
signed on the ninth of the preceding August, been ratified by the
Senate, and had been proclaimed by the President on the tenth of
November. He was too late by more than three months to have
prevented the treaty; but his journey was not in vain, for the
DE. WHITMAN AND THE EMIGRATION OF FORTY-THREE. 271
Oregon boundary had not been included in the treaty, had not even
been discussed, in fact, as a23pears from Mr. Webster's speeches and
correspondence. This intelligence brought I'elief to the Doctor's
overwrought feelings. There was still an opportunity for him to
accomplish his purpose He found great preparations being made all
along the frontier to emigrate to the Willamette Valley, as has been
previously shown, notwithstanding the prevailing opinion tliat
wagons could not proceed beyond Fort Hall He immediately
wrote a small pamphlet describing Oregon and the nature of the
route thither, urging the people to emigrate and assuring them that
wagons could go through, and that he would join them and be then-
pilot. This pamphlet and his earnest personal appeals were effica-
cious in adding somewhat to the number of emigrants, though it is
a fact that probably the greater portion of those who started from
the border of Missouri in May never heard of Dr. Whitman until
he joined them on the route. That Whitman's efforts added some-
what to the number of emigrants is true, but that he initiated the
movement, or even contributed largely to it, does not appear. He
was too late for that; the movement was well imder way before his
arrival.
After writing his pamphlet his next anxiety was to reach Wash-
ington before Congress adjourned, so that he might have an oppor-
tunity to meet Congressmen and urge upon them the claims of
Oregon. He did not undertake to change his apparel, which is
thus described by Dr. William Barrows, who met him in St. Louis:
" The Doctor was in coarse fur garments and vesting, and buckskin
breeches. He* wore a buffalo coat, with a head-hood for emergen-
cies in taking a storm or a bivouac nap. What with heavy fur
leggins and boot moccasins, his legs tilled up well his Mexican stir-
rups. With all this warmth and almost burden of skin and fur
clothing, he bore the marks of the irresistible cold and merciless
storms of his journey. His fingers, ears, nose and feet had been
frost-bitten, and were giving him much trouble."
Such was Whitman in St. Louis, and such was he on the third
of March when he appeared in Washington, having previously
visited Ithica, New York, to obtain the co-operation of Dr. Samuel
Parker, his first missionary associate, and still later in Boston, where
he treated the rebukes of the officials of the American Board with
272 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
a quiet contempt that astonislied them. He found the ideas of
Oregon prevailing at Washington to be far different from those ex-
isting on the frontier. Public men possessed but a faint idea of the
extent and nature of the vast area beyond the Rocky Mountains,
deeming it a region of sterile soil and inhospitable climate. Since
Lewis and Clarke had subsisted upon dog meat, and Hunt's party
had endured such terrible privations in passing through it, the
country lying between the Cascades and Rocky Mountains had been
known as the " Great American Desert," and deemed lit only for
the abode of migratory trappers and famine -afflicted savages. A
year later, during a discussion of the Oregon Question in Congress,
a speaker advanced this idea in the following language: "With
the exception of the land along the Willamette and along a few of
the water courses, the whole country is among the most irreclaima-
ble, barren wastes of which we have read, except the desert of Sa-
hara. Xor is this the worst of it — the climate is so unfriendly to
human life that the native population has dwindled away under
the ravages of its malaria to a degree which defies all history to
furnish a parallel in so wide a range of country." To demonstrate
the error of this idea, and that Oregon could be jDopulated by emi-
gration from the East, was AVhitman's task. He had numerous in-
terviews with public men, including President Tyler and Secretary
Webster, in which he urged upon them the importance of securing
as much of that indefinite region known as " Oregon " as possible,
declaring that, so far was it from being a sterile waste, its agricul-
tural and timber resources were unbounded. He called their atten-
tion to the large emigration already preparing, and confidently de-
clared that he was able to, and would, guide them through by a
route over which wagons could travel to the Willamette. His
earnest protestations made a deep impression upon many, especially
President Tyler, and he was assured that if he could thus demon-
strate the practicability of colonizing Oregon by emigration across
the Rocky Mountains, it would have a powerful effect upon the
solution of the vexed Oregon Question. The same writers, whose
tendency toward romancing has been pointed out above, have
allowed their imaginations too much liberty in their relation of the
incidents connected with Whitman's visit to Washington. Nothing
more is known of what occurred there than the crude facts just re-
DE. WHITMAN AND THE EMIGKATION OF FOETY-THEEE. 273
lated ; and yet these writers undertake to state the exact language
employed by Dr. Whitman, President Tyler, Secretary Webster,
and others. Those words were never recorded, nor do these writers
lay claim to direct information from the men who uttered them, and
common regard for the purity of historical statements should cause
them to refi'ain fi'om any such clairvoyant efforts.
When Whitman had accomplished the main object of his journey
at Washington, he proceeded to Boston to attend to the official
business which had been the ostensible cause of his visit. This was
so unimportant that the officers of the Board rebuked him for leav-
ing his mission upon such a trivial pretext; but he shamed them
into silence by treating their officious chidings with lofty contempt.
He then proceeded to his home, and, after spending a few days
there, hastened to the frontier to join the emigrants, some of whom
had already started and whom he did not overtake until they had
reached the Platte, his appearance among them at that time being
the first knowledge a majority of them had that such a man as Dr.
Whitman was in existence. The circumstances attending the final
starting of the emigrants, are thus related by Gen. J. W. Nesmith: —
Without orders from any quarter, and without preconcert, promptly as the grass
began to start, the emigrants began to assemble near Independence, at a place
called Fitzhugh's Mill. On the seventeenth day of May, 1843, notices were circulated
through the different encampments that on the succeeding day, those who contem-
plated emigrating to Oregon, would meet at a designated point to organize.
Promptly at the appointed hour the motley groups assembled. They consisted of peo-
ple from all the States and Territories, and nearly all nationalities ; the most, how-
ever, from Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri and Iowa, and all strangers to one another,
but impressed with some crude idea that there existed an imperative necessity for
some kind of an organization for mutual protection against the hostile Indians
inhabiting the great unknown wilderness stretching away to the shores of the
Pacific, and which they were about to traverse with their wives and children,
household goods, and all their earthly possessions.
Many of the emigrants were from the western tier of counties of Missouri,
known as the Platte Purchase, and among them was Peter H. Burnett, a former
merchant, who had abandoned the yard-stick and become a lawyer of some celeb-
rity for his ability as a smooth-tongued advocate. He subsequently emigrated to
California, and was elected the first Governor of the Golden State, was afterward
Chief Justice, and still an honored resident of that State. Mr. Burnett, or as he
was familiarly designated, " Pete," was called upon for a speech. Mounting a log,
the glib-tongued orator delivered a glowing, florid address. He commenced by
showing his audience that the then western tier of States and Territories was over-
crowded with a redundant population, who had not sufficient elbow room for the
expansion of their enterprise and genius, and it was a duty they owed to them-
selves and posterity to strike out in search of a more expanded field and more
genial climate, where the soil yielded the richest return for the slightest amount of
274 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
cultivation, where the trees were loaded with perennial fruit, and where a good sub-
stitute for bread, called La Camash, grew in the ground, salmon and other fish
crowded the streams, and where the principal labor of the settler would be confined
to keeping their gardens free from the inroads of buffalo, elk, deer and Avild turkeys.
He appealed to our patriotism by joicturing forth the glorious empire we would
establish on the shores of the Pacific. How, with our trusty rifles, we would drive
out the British usurpers who claimed the soil, and defend the country from the
avarice and pretensions of the British lion, and how posterity would honor us for
placing the fairest portion of our land under the dominion of the stars and stripes.
He concluded with a slight allusion to the trials and hardships incident to the trip,
and dangers to be encountered from hostile Indians on the route, and those inhabit-
ing the country whither we were bound. He furthermore intimated a desire to
look upon the tribe of noble "red men" that the valiant and well-armed crowd
around him could not vanquish in a single encounter.
Other speeches were made, full of glowing descriptions of the fair land of prom-
ise, the far-away Oregon, which no one in the assemblage had ever seen, and of
which not more than half a dozen had ever read any account. After the election of
Mr. Burnett as captain, and other necessary officers, the meeting, as motley and
primitive a one as ever assembled, adjourned, with "three cheers" for Captain
Burnett and Oregon. On the 2r)th day of May, 1843, after a pretty thorough mili-
tary organization, we took up our line of march, with Captain John Gantt, an old
army officer, who combined the character of trapper and mountaineer, as our guide.
Gantt had in his wanderings been as far as Green River, and assured us of the
practicability of a wagon road thus far. Green River, the extent of our guide's
knowledge in that direction, was not half-way to the Willamette Valley, the then
only inhabited portion of Oregon. Beyond that we had not the slightest conject-
ure of the condition of the country. We went forth trusting to the future, and
would doubtless have encountered more difficulties than we experienced had not
Dr. Whitman overtaken us before we reached the terminus of our guide's knowl-
edge. He was familiar with the whole route and was confident that wagons could
pass through the canyons and gorges of Snake River and over the Blue Mountains,
which the mountaineers in the vicinity of Fort Hall declared to be a physical
impossibility.
Captain Grant, then in charge of the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Hall,
endeavored to dissuade us from proceeding further with our wagons, and showed
us the wagons that the emigrants of the preceding year had abandoned, as an evi-
dence of the impracticability of our determination. Dr. Whitman was persistent
in his assertions that wagons could proceed as far as the Grand Dalles of the Colum-
bia River, from which jDoint he asserted they could be taken down by rafts or
batteaux to the Willamette Valley, while our stock could be driven by an Indian
trail over the Cascade Mountains, near Mount Hood. Happily Whitman's ad-
vice prevailed, and a large number of the wagons with a portion of the stock,
did reach Walla Walla and The Dalles, from which points they were taken to the
Willamette the following year. Had we followed Grant's advice and abandoned
the cattle and wagons at Fort Hall, much suffering must have ensued, as a sufficient
number of horses to carry the women and children of the party could not have
been obtained, besides wagons and cattle were indispensable to men expecting to
live by farming in a country destitute of such articles.
At Fort Hall we fell in with some Cayuse and Nez Perce Indians returning
from the buffalo country, and as it was necessary for Dr. W^hitman to precede us to
Walla Walla, he recommended to us a guide in the person of an old Cayuse Indian
called " Sticcus." He was a faithful old fellow, perfectly familiar with all the trails
and topography of the country from Fort Hall to The Dalles, and although not
DR. WHITMAN AND THE EMIGRATION OF FORTY-THREE. 275
speaking a word of English, and no one in our party a word of Cayuse, he suc-
ceeded by pantomime in taking us over the roughest wagon route I ever %aw.
This is a glowing tribute to the energy, determination and patri-
otic zeal of the one man to whom is due the honor of clearly demon-
strating to the world the often -denied fact that there was a practicable
route into Oregon for the white -topped wagon of the emigrant. A
score of other intelligent gentlemen have testified to the same effect,
but it is obviously unnecessary to give more than a bare mention
of the fact.
The following list contains the names of every male member of
that great train over the age of sixteen years. It was prepared by
J. W. Nesmith when the train was organized, and was preserved
among his papers for a third of a century before given for publica-
tion. All reached the Willamette Valley, except a few, the excep-
tions being designated by marks and foot notes: —
Applegate, Jesse Boardman, ■
Applegate, Charles Baldridge, Wm.
Applegate, Lindsay Cason, F. C.
A they, James
Athey, William
Atkinson, John*
Arthur, Wm.
Arthur, Robert
Arthur, David
Butler, Anion
Brooke, George
Burnett, Peter H.
Bird, David
Brown, Thomas A
Blevins, Alexander Caton, J. H.
Brooks, John P. Chappel, Alfred
Cason, James
Chapman, Wm.
Cox, John
Champ, Jacob
Cooper, L. C.
Cone, James
Childers, Moses
Carey, Miles
Cochran, Thomas
Clymour, L.
Copenhaver, .John
Dorin, Jacob Fowler, Henry
Davis, Thomas Fairly, Stephen
Delany, Daniel P'endall, Charles
Delany, Daniel, Jr. Gantt, John*
Delany, William Gray, Chiley B.
I
Brown, Martin
Brown, Oris
Black, J. P.
Bane, Layton
Baker, Andrew
Baker, John G.
Beagle, William
Boyd, Levy
Baker, William
Biddle, Nicholas^
Beale, George
Braidy, James
Beadle, George
Cronin, Daniel
Cozine, Samuel
Costable, Benedict
Childs, Joseph*
Clark, Ransom
Campbell, John G.
Chapman,
Chase, James
Dodd, Solomon
Dement, Wm. C.
Dougherty, W. P.
Day, Williamf
Duncan, James
Doke, William
Davis, J. H.
Davis, Burrell
Dailey, George
Doherty, John
Dawson, *
Eaton, Charles
Eaton, Nathan
Etch ell, James
Emerick, Solomon
Eaker, John W.
Edson, E. G.
Eyres, Milesf
East, John W.
Garrison, Enoch
Garrison, J. W.
Garrison, W, J.
Gardner, Samuel
Gardner, Wm.
Gilmore, Mat,
Goodman, Richard
Gilpin, Major
Gray,
Haggard, B.
Hide, H. H.
Holmes, Wm.
Holmes, Riley A.
Hobson, John
Everman, Niniwon Hobson, Wm.
Ford, Nineveh Hembree, Andrew
Ford, Ephriam Hembree, J. J.
Ford, Nimrod Hembi'ee, James
Ford, John Hembree, A. J.
Francis, Alexander^ Hall, Samuel B.
Frazier, Abner Houk, James
Frazier, Wm. Hughes, Wm. P.
Fowler, Wm. Hendrick, Abijah
Fowler, Wm. J. Hays, James
* Turned off at Fort Hall and went to California,
t Died on the route. •
j Turned back at the Platte.
276
HISTOEY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
Hensley, Thomas J.
Holley, B/
Hunt, Henry
Holderness, S. M.
Hutching, Isaac
Husted, A.
Hess, Joseph
Haun, Jacob
Howell, John
Howell, Wm.
Howell, Wesley
Howell, G. W.
Howell, Thomas E.
Hill, Henry
Hill, William
Hill, Almoran
Hewett Henry
Hargrove, Wm.
Hoyt, A.
Holman, John
Holman, Daniel
Harrigas, B.
James, Calvin
Jackson, John B.
Jones, John
Johnson, Overton
Keyser, Thomas
Keyser, J. B.
Keyser, Plasant
Kelley,
Kelsey,
Lovejoy, A. L.
Lenox, Edward
Lenox, E.
Lay son, Aaron
Looney, Jesse
Long, John E.
Lee, H. A. G.
Lugur, F.J
Linebarger, Lew
Linebarger, John
Laswell, Isaac
Loughborough, J.|
Little, Milton*
Luther,
Lauderdale, John
McGee, *
Martin, Wm. J.*
Martin, James
Martin, Julius*
McClelland, *
McClelland, F.*
Mills, John B.
Mills, Isaac
Mills, Wm. A.
Mills, Owen
McGarey, G. W.
Mondon, Gilbert
Matheny, Daniel
Matheny, Adam
Matheny, J. N.
Matheny, Josiah
Matheny, Henry
Mastire, A. J.
McHaley, John
Myers, Jacob
Manning, John
Manning, James
McCarver, M. M.
McCorcle, George
Mays. William
Millican, Elijah
McDaniel, William
McKissic, D.
Malone, Madison
McClane, John B.
Mauzee, William
Mclntire, John*
Moore, JacksonJ
Matney, W. J,
Nesmith, J. W.
Newby, W. T.
Newman, Noah
Naylor, Thomas
Osborn, Neil
O'Brien, Hugh D.
O'Brien, Humphrey
Owen, Thomas A.
Owen, Thomas
Otie, E. W.
Otie, M. B.
O'Neil, Bennett
Olinger, A.
Parker, Jesse
Parker, William
Pennington, J. B.
Poe, R. H.
Paynter, Samuel
Patterson, J. R.
Pickett, Charles E.
Prigg, Frederick
Paine, Claybornf
Reading, P. B.*
Rodgers, S. P.
Rodgers, G. W.
Russell, William
Roberts, James
Rice, G. W.
Richardson, John
Stevenson,
Story, James
Swift,
Shively, John M.
Shirly, Samuel
Stoughton, Alex.
Spencer, Chancey
Strait, Hiram
Summers, George
Stringer, Cornelius
Stringer, C. W.f
Tharp, Lindsey
Thompson, John
Trainor, D.
Teller, Jeremiah
Tarbox, Stephen
Umnicker, John
Vance, Samuel
Vaughn, William
Richardson, Danielf Vernon, George
Ruby, Philip
Ricord, John
Reid, Jacob
Roe, John
Roberts, Solomon
Roberts, Emseley
Rossin, Joseph
Rivers, Thomas
Smith, Thomas H.
Smith, Thomas
Smith, Isaac W.
Smith, Anderson
Smith, Ahi
Smith, Robert
Smith, Eli
Sheldon, William
Stewart, P. G.
Wilmont, James
Wilson, Wm. H.
Wair, J. W.
Winkle, Archibald
Williams, Edward
Wheeler, H.
Wagoner, John
Williams, Benjamin
Williams, David
Wilson, Wm.
Williams, John*
Williams, James*
Williams, Squire*
Williams, Isaac*
Ward, T. B.
White, James
Watson, J no. (Betty)
Sutton, Dr. Nathan '1 Waters, James
Stimmerman, C.
Sharp, C.
Summers, W. C.
Sewell, Henry
Stout, Henry
Sterling, George
Stout,
Winter, Wm.
Waldo, Daniel
Waldo, David
Waldo, William
Zachary, Alexander
Zachary, John
There were in Oregon at tlie time the train arrived, the follow-
ing individuals, a few names, possibly, having been omitted from
the list: —
* Turned off at Fort Hall and went to California.
+ Died on tiie route.
J Turned back at the Platte.
AMERICANS ORGANIZE A PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT.
277
Armstrong, Pleasant
Burns, Hugh
Brown,
Brown, William
Brown,
Black, J. M.
Baldro,
Balis, James
Bailey, Dr.
Brainard,
Crawford, Medorem
Carter, David
Campbell, Samuel
Campbell, Jack
Craig, Wm.
Cook, Amos
Cook, Aaron
Connor,
Cannon, William
Davy, Allen
Doty, William
Eakin, Richard
Ebbetts, Squire
Edwards, John
Foster, Philip
Force, John
Force, James
Fletcher, Francis
Gay, George
Gale Joseph
Girtman,
Hathaway, Felix
Hatch, Peter H.
Hubbard, Thomas J.
Hewitt, Adam
Horegon, Jeremiah
Holman, Joseph
Hall, David
Hoxhurst, Weberly
Hutchinson,
Johnson, William
King,
Kelsey,
Lewis, Reuben
LeBreton, G, W.
Larrison, Jack
Meek, Joseph L.
Matthieu, F. X.
McClure, John
Moss, S. W.
Moore, Robert
McFadden,
McCarty, William
McKay, Charles
McKay, Thomas
McKay, William C.
Morrison,
Mack, J. W.
Newbanks,
Newell, Robert
O'Neil, James A.
Pettygrove, F. W.
Pomeroy, Dwight
Pomeroy, Walter
Perry,
Rimmick,
Russell, Osborn
Robb, J. R.
Shortess, Robert
Smith, Sidney
Smith,
Smith, Andrew
Smith, Andrew, Jr.
Smith, Darling
Spence,
Sailor, Jack
Turnham, Joel
Turner, John
Taylor, Hiram
Tibbetts, Calvin
Trask,
Walker, C. M.
Warner, Jack
Wilson, A. E.
Winslow, David
Wilkins, Caleb
Wood, Henry
Williams, B.
In addition to the above were the following gentlemen con-
nected with the various Protestant missions: —
Abernethy, George Eells, C. Leslie, David Waller, A. F.
Babcock, Dr. J. L. Gray, W. H. Parrish, J. L. Walker, E.
Beers, Alanson Hines, Gustavus Perkins, H. K. W. Whitman, Dr. M.
Brewer, Judson, L. H. Raymond, H. W. White, Dr. Elijah
Campbell, Hamilton Lee, Jason Spalding, W. H. Willson, Wm. H.
Clark, Harvey
In addition to these were some fifty former employees of the
Hudson's Bay Company, nearly all of whom had settled on French
Prairie, and a number of priests connected with the Catholic
mission, making a total male population at the close of the year
1843 of about four hundred and thirty, exclusive of the officers and
actual servants of the Hudson's Bay Company.
Following in the wake of the emigrants came the party of Lieu-
tenant John C. Fremont, who had explored the Kocky Mountains
the year befoi-e, and who had been this season dispatched by the
Government upon an official tour of exploration to the Pacific.
After spending a few days at Vancouver, he passed south, crossed
the Cascades to Eastern Oregon, continued south into Nevada, and
in January, 1844, crossed the snowy summit of the Sierra Nevadas
to Sutter's Fort in Sacramento Valley. The title of " Pathfinder "
was bestowed upon him, though he was guided nearly everywhere
278 HISTORl'oF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
by mountain men who were familiar with the country, and found
the route to Oregon plainly marked by the emigrants' wagon
wheels. On this subject Mr. Nesmith says: —
In the Eastern States, I have often been asked how long it was after Fremont
discovered Oregon that I emigrated there. It is true that in the year 1843, Fre-
mont, then a Lieutenant in the Engineer Corps, did cross the plains, and brought
his party to The Dalles, and visited Vancouver to procure supplies. I saw him on
the plains, though he reached The Dalles in the rear of our emigration. His outfit
contained all of the conveniences and luxuries that a Government appropriation
could procure, while he "roughed it " in a covered carriage, surrounded by servants
paid from the public purse. He returned to the States and was afterward rewarded
with a Presidential nomination as the " Pathfinder." The path he found was made
by the hardy frontiersmen who preceded him to the Pacific, and who stood by their
rifles here and held the country agaii^ist hostile Indians and British threats, without
Government aid or recognition until 1849, when the first Government troops came
to our relief. Yet Fremont, with many people, has the credit of " finding " every-
thing west of the Rocky Mountains, and I supjiose his pretensions will be recog-
nized by the future historian, while the deserving men who made the path, unaided
by Government, will be forgotten. "And such is history."
Thus close the events of 1843, leaving Oregon with a Provisional
Government and a population of intelligent, earnest, hardy Ameri-
can pioneers sufficiently great to determine its future as a party of
the great Republic whose institutions they had thus planted in these
remote regions.
CHAPTER XVII.
1844 TO 1849.
Indian Difficulty at Oregon City — First Military Company — Methodist
Missions Abandoned — Increase of the Catholic Workers — Election
of 18Jf.Ji. — Abstract of Votes — Proceedings of the legislative Com-
mittee— Emigration of ISJ^Jf, — List of Emigrants — Election of 18Jf5
— George Abernethy Chosen First Governor of Oregon — Abstract of
Votes — Oath of Office— Dr. White and the Memorial to Congress —
Wheat a Legal Tender — Census of 18If5 — Emigration of ISJfd —
Meek Takes the Emigrants by a New Route and Loses Them in the
Mountains — The Eventful Year of 181^.6 — Mr. Blaine's Account of
the Settlement of the Oregon Question — Election of 181i.6 — Emigra-
tion of 181^6 — The Applegate Trail — Flags of the Schooner ^'■Shark "
— Emigration of 18J^7 — The Traveling Nursery — Elections of 1847
and 1848 — Emigration of 1848.
THERE was trouble in the Willamette Valley in 1844, which
served to still more embitter the Indians against the Americans.
There was a sub-chief of the Molallas named " Cockstock," a man
of independent nature and belligerent disposition. He had a few
followers who partook somewhat of his spirit, and they were gen-
erally the prime movers in such small hostile acts as the natives of
the Willamette indulged in. He was rebellious of restraint, and
not friendly to the encroachment of the white settlers. A relative
of his having mistreated Mr. Perkins at The Dalles Mission, was
sentenced by the Wasco tribe to be punished according to Dr.
White's laws. The sub -chief was enraged at the whipping his
kinsman had received, and set out to revenge the insult upon the
280 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
Indian Agent. Reaching the Agent's Willamette home during his
absence, he proceeded to break every windo\^^-pane in the house.
He was pui'sued, but not caught, and became an object of terror to
the Doctor. All depredations committed in the country were
charged to this chief, and it finally resulted in the offer by Dr.
White of one hundred dollars' reward for the arrest of the formid-
able Indian. Learning that he was being accused of acts commit-
ted by others, the chief visited Oregon City March 4, accompanied
by four of his band, with the avowed purpose of having a talk with
the whites for the purpose of exculpating himself. He entered the
town, staid for about an hour, and then crossed the river to visit an
Indian village to procure an Indian interpreter. He then re- crossed
the Willamette, when several men undertook to arrest him, and a
desperate fight ensued. Cockstock was killed, and his followers,
after fighting valiantly until the odds became too great, made good
their escape. On the other side George W. LeBreton was killed
by Cockstock, and Mr. Kogers, who was working quietly near by,
was w^ounded in the arm by a poisoned arrow, which caused his
death. It has been asserted that the Molalla chief attacked the
town, but it requires too much credulity to believe that five Indians
would in broad daylight attack a town containing ten times theii'
number. The whole affair is chargeable to the rash conduct of a
few men who were too eager to gain the paltry reward offered by
Dr. White, one of whom paid for his cupidity with his life. Fear-
ing that trouble might follow, the Executive Committee of the
Provisional Government issued a proclamation for the organization
of a military company. A company was organized on the tenth
of March by citizens who assembled at Champoeg. Nineteen
names were enrolled ; T. D. Keizer being elected Captain, and J.
L. Morrison and Mr. F. C. (or James) Cason, Lieutenants. Their
services were not required.
In May, 1844, Rev. George Gary arrived by sea to supersede
Jason Lee in charge of the Methodist missions, the latter being
already on his way East. The mission property was immediately
sold and the missionary work, which had amounted to little for
several years, so far as accomplishments were concerned, was dis-
continued, except at The Dalles. While the Methodists were thus
withdrawing from the field, the Catholics were largely increasing
WILLAMETTE FALLS AT OREGON CITY.
i
EIGHTEEN FORTY-FOUR TO EIGHTEEN FORTY-NINE. 281
their force. Among other arrivals for that purpose were six sisters
of the order of Notre Dame, who came to found a convent in the
Willamette. Father P. J. DeSmet, who had previously founded a
mission among the Flatheads, brought the sisters to Oregon by sea,
being also accompanied by four priests and several laymen. Three
other priests came overland from St. Louis. As Father Blanchet
expresses it : " The schemes of the Protestant ministers had been
fought and nearly annihilated, especially at Nesqually, Vancouver,
Cascades, Clackamas and Willamette Falls, so that a visitor came
in 1844 and disbanded the whole Methodist Mission, and sold its
property."
On the fourteenth of May, 1844, an election was held for officers
of the Provisional Government, at which some two hundred votes
were cast. P. G. Stewart, Osborn Russell and W. J. Bailey were
chosen Executive Committee ; Dr. J. L. Babcock, Supreme Judge ;
Dr. John E. Long, Clerk and Recorder ; Philip Foster, Treasurer ;
Joseph L. Meek, Sheriff. The Territory had been partitioned into
three Legislative Districts. Tualatin District included what is now
Washington, Multnomah, Columbia, Clatsop, Tillamook, Yamhill
and Polk Coitnties. Champoeg District has since been divided into
Linn, Marion, Lane, Josephine, Coos, Curry, Benton, Douglas and
Jackson Counties. In the Clackamas District were Clackamas
County and the eastern part of Oregon, a portion of Montana, and
all of Idaho and Washington Territories. On the following page
are the tabulated retui-ns of this first popular election held in
Oregon : —
282
HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
ELECTION OF MAY 14, 1844.
Cjft.3sri3II3-A.TES.
Executive Committee.
P. G. Stewart*
Osbprn Russell*
Alanson Beers
Jesse Applegate
Peter H. Burnett
Hugh Burns
David Hill
W. J. Bailey*
William Dougherty
A. Lawrence Lovejoy
Robert Newell
A. J. Henihree
William Geiger
Spencer
Territorial Recorder or Clerk.
Dr. John E. Long*
O. Johnson
C. M. Walker
J. G. Campbell
A. E. Wilson
F. X. Matthieu
Sapreim Court Judge.
James L. Babcock f *
J. W. Nesmith
Peter H. Burnett *
P. G. Stewart
Osborn Russell
O. Johnson
Territorial Treasurer.
Phil. Foster*
Nineveh Ford
P. H. Hatch
A. E. Wilson
John E. Long
W. C. Remiek
Territorial Sheriff.
Joseph L. Meek*
B. Harragus
William Holmes
Legislative Com.mittee.
M. Gilmore*
Peter H. Burnett*
David Hill*
M. M. McCarver*
W. T. Perry
T. D. Reiser*
Daniel Waldo*
Robert Newell*
W. H. Gray
W. J. Bailey
F. C. Cason
A. Lawrence Lovejoyt
DISTK-ICTS.
TDAUTffl.
23
10
26
84
182
18
67
14
65
79
* Elected.
f Resigned November 11, 1814.
I Elected from Clackamas District.
EIGHTEEN FORTY-FOUR TO EIGHTEEN FORTY-NINE.
283
The Legislative Committee elected met at Willamette Falls,
in tlie house of Felix Hathaway, June 18, 1844, and chose M. M.
McCarver Speaker. A nine days' session followed, when they ad-
journed until December of the same year. On the sixteenth of
December the Legislative Committee met again, this time at the
house of J. E. Long, in Oregon City, when a message was submitted
to them from the Executive Committee, in which an amendment of
the organic law was recommended. A seven days' session followed,
during which an act was passed calling for a committee to frame
a constitution. Several acts were framed requiring submission to a
popular vote to render them valid, among which was a change from
the triumvirate to gubernatorial executive, and from a Legislative
Committee to a Legislature, which was adopted by the people.
The emigration of 1844 was nearly as great as that of the pre-
vious year, adding some eight hundred to the American population,
two hundred and thirty-four of them able-bodied men. " They were,"
says Hon. John Minto, "self-reliant, determined men; devoted,
loyal, bravely -enduring women. They started fi'om different points
under different leaders, and never united, but, on the contrary,
divided up still more as they traveled, a single man sometimes
separating himself from an entii'e company, under the settled con-
viction that they were all too contrary for him to keep company
with any longer." The main companies had three starting points
— one from Independence, one from near the mouth of the Platte,
and one from Capler's Landing, twelve miles above St. Joseph.
The last was commanded by Cornelius Gilliam, the first by Nathan-
iel Ford, and the other by Major Thorp. The folio-wing nearly
correct list was made in later years by Joseph Watt, Willard H.
Rees, William M. Case and J. Henry Brown, and read by John
Minto in his address before the Pioneer Association in 1877: —
Alderqaan,
Bird,
Buzzard, Nathan
Burch, Charles
Boyd, Eobert
Black, William
Blakely,
Bush, George W.
Boggs, Thomas
Bowman, Wm., Sr.
Bowman, Wm., Jr.
Bowman, Ira
Bunton, Elijah
Bunton, Joseph
Bunton, Wm.
Buich, Charles
Bennett, Capt. C.
Bordran, Francis
Bartrough, Joseph
Bray, Wm.
Bayard, Nathan
Brown, Adam
Bonnin, Peter
Crawford, David
Crawford, Lewis
Clark, Daniel
Clark, Dennis
Clemens,
Cave, James
Crisman, Joel
Crisman, Gabriel
Crisman, Wm.
Chamberlain, Aaron
Conner, Patrick
Crockett, Samuel B-
Case, Wm. M.
Clemens, Wm.
Dougherty,
Doty,
Davenport, James
284
HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
Dagon, Dr.
Durbin, Daniel
Dupuis, Edward
Emery, C.
Edes, Moses
Everraan, C.
Eades, John
Eades, Abr.
Eades, Henry
Eades, Clark
Eades, Solomon
Evans, David
Evans, N. D.
Eddy, Eobert
EUick, John
Fleming, John
Ford, Nathaniel
Ford, Mark
Fruit, James
Fruit, "Doc."
Fuller, Jenny
Gilbert, I. N.
Goff, David
Goff, Samuel
Goff, Marion
Grant, David
Gilliam, Mitchell
Gilliam, Cornelius
Gilliam, Smith
Gilliam, William
Gilliam, Porter
Gage, William
Gage, Jesse
Goodwin, W. H.
Gillespie,
Gerrish, James
Gerrish, John
Gillahan, Martin
Gillahan, William
Gilmore, Charles
Hinman, Alanson
Hedges, A. F.
Hutton, Jacob
Hill, Fleming
Hawley, J. C.
Hoover, Jacob
Holt, T.
Harper, James
Holman, Joseph
Howard, John Neal, Calvin
Hunt, James Neal, Robert
Humphrey, Norris Neal, Alex.
Hammer, Jacob
Higgius, Herman
Higgins Williams
Hibler, George
Inyard, John
Inyard, Abr.
Inyard, Peter
Johnson, William
Johnson, James
Johnson, David
Johnson, Daniel
Johnson, James
Jackson, John
Jenkins, David
Jenkins, William
Jenkins, Henry
Kindred, David
Kindred, Bart
Kindred, John
Kinney, Daniel
Lee, Barton
Lousenaute, John
Lewis, Charles
Morgan, William
McGruder, Theo.
McGruder, Ed.
Minto, John
McDaniel, Joshua
McDaniel. Elisha
McDaniel, Mrs.
McMahan,
Martin, Nehemiah
McSwain, Samuel
McAllister, James
Morrison, R. W.
Moore, Michael
Neal, Peter
Nelson, George
Nelson, Cyrus
Nichols, John
Nichols, Frank
Smith, William
Smith, Noyes
Smith, Texas
Saffron, Henry
Sis, Big
Stewart, James
Saunders, William
Shaw, Joshua
Nichols, Benjamin Shaw, A. C.R. (Sheep)
Owless, Ruel
Owens, Henry
Owens, James
Owens, John
Owens, John
Perkins, Joel, Sr.
Perkins, Joel, Jr.
Perkins, John
Parker, David
Priest,
Parrot, Joseph
Packwood, S.
Packwood, T.
Payne, R. K.
Prather, William
Prather, Theodore
Pettie, Eaben
Pettie, Amab
Rowland, J.
Shaw, Wash.
Shaw, Thomas
Shaw, B. F.
Shaw, Capt. Wm.
Stephens, James
Sager, , died on
the way at Green
River.
Saxton, Charles
Snelling, Vincent
Snelling, Benjamin
Snooks,
Teller, Jerry
Thornton, Sebrin
Thomas, O. S.
Thorp, John
Thorp, Alvin
Thorp, Theodore
Thorp, Mortimer
Robinson, E.(Moun- Thorp, Milton
tain.) Trues, Cooper Y.
Robinson,T.G. (Fat- Tucker, Benjamin
ty.)
Robinson, Ben
Rees, Willard H.
Rice, Parton
Rice, Mac
Rice, (Old Man.)
Ramsej^,
Ramsdell,
Marshall, James, the Sears, Franklin
discoverer of gold Shelton, Jackson
at Sutter's Mill. Sebring, William
Moreland, Lafe
Mulky, Westley
Mulkey, Luke
Murray,
Mudgett,
Neal, George
Neal, Attey
Scott, John
Scott, Levi
Simmons, M. T.
Springer,
Smith, J. S.
Smith, Charles
Smith, Peter
Tucker, Long
Vance, Thos., died
on the Platte.
Waunch, George
Williams, Poe
Williams,
Wright, Harrison
Woodcock, Richard
Welsh, James
Walker, James, Sr. •
Walker, James, Jr.
Walker, Robert
Williamson, Henry
Watt, Joseph
Warmbough,
Werner, Thomas
The following turned off and went to California : —
Calvin, Foster, Joseph Greenwood, G. Hitchcock, — and
Flomboy, John Greenwood, John Greenwood, Britain son.
EIGHTEEN FORTY-FOUR TO EIGHTEEN FORTY-NINE. 285
Jackson,
Martin, Patrick
Martin, Dennis
Martin, William
Miller, James
Montgomery, Allen Schallenberger, M. Townsend, Dr.
Montgomery, James Stephens, Captain Scott and ' Robbin,
Murphy, Martin, and Sullivan, John, and colored men with
five sons. brother. Col. Ford.
Mrs. Wm. M. Case furnishes the follo\ving list of ladies who
came in Major Thorp's company : —
Case, Mrs. Wm. M. Higgins, Mrs. Her- Snelling, Mrs. Vin- Horace Holden and
Eliza, a mulatto girl man cent May, his wife, ar-
Hammer, Mrs. Jac'b Johnson, Mrs. D. Tucker, Mrs. Benj. rived in April of
Hannah, Aunt, a ne- Shaw, Mrs. Joshua Thorp,Miss Amanda this year from the
gress Snelling, Miss Eliza Sandwich Islands.
Of this emigration Michael T. Simmons and a few others located
on Puget Sound, making the first American settlement north of
the Columbia.
GENERAL ELECTION, JUNE 3, 1845.
The first annual election was held on the third of June, 1845. The following
tabular statement will j^rove interesting and of historical value :—
C^ITIDIXJ^TES.
I3ISTU-ICTS.
Oovernor.
George Abernethy*
Osborn Russell
William J. Bailey
A. Lawrence Lovejoy
Total vote cast
Secretary.
John E. Long 1*
Noyes Smith
Treasurer.
Phil. Foster
Francis Ermatinger 2*
Judge.
J. W. Nesmith 3*
District-Attorney.
Marcus Ford 4*
S. W. Moss*-
Jacob Reed--
Joseph L. Meek 5*
A. J. Hembree
Sheriff.,
114
65
48
62
51
111 I
100 I
53*
52
5
123
42
115
78
167
117
53
47
118
168
119
111
54
23
77
228
130
75
71
504
283
195
197
251
473
216
204
267
215
\
Officers elected. ^„ ^ _^. ,„,„
Deceased. Frederick Prigg appointed to fill vacancy June 2b,^ 1846.
Resigned. John H. Couch appointed to vacancy March 4, 1846.
Succeeded by Alonzo A. Skinner. . , , , i,„ ..„oi„««.ri Afarfh 10
Resigned February 4, 1846, W. G. T' Vault appointed to vacancy ; he resigned Marcn m,
1846, and was succeeded by A. L. Lovejoy.
Resigned, and was succeeded by H. M. Knighton.
286 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
GENERAL ELECTION, JUNE 3, 1^5— Continued.
C^3SriDIID.A.TES.
Bepresentatives.
H. A. J. Lee*
Hiram Straight*
W. H. Gray*
C. E. Pickett
N. Forrt
M. M. McCarver*
D. Lenox
D. Hill*
C. Satton
V. W. Dawson
Joseph Gale
J. W. Smith*
C. M. Walker
J. M. Garrison*
M, G. Foiry*
Joseph Gervais
Barton Lee*---'
W. H. Willson
Robert Newell*
A. Chamberlain
F. X. Mathieu
John McClure*
George Simmons
Jesse Applegate*
A. Hendrick*
S. Smith
J. Richardson
R. Clark
Convention (to frame constitution) ---'-
No Convention (to frame constitution )-
DISTRICTS.
128
131
68
90
49
79
74
14
82
54
50
23
51
39
53
28
22
43
51
47
128
131
79
74
14
11
10
38
34
31
29
10
190
* Officers elected.
Note— Theophilus McGruder was appointed Recorder December 8, 1846. Wm. G. T'Vault
was appointed Postmaster-General of Oregon in December, 1816. G. W. Bell was ap-
pointed Auditor.
Two new districts — Yamhill and Clatsop— had been formed out
of Tualatin, making five in all. In most of these were held nomi-
nating conventions, where, also, were chosen delegates to a general
convention at Champoeg. A. L. Lovejoy was the successful aspi-
rant for the gubernatorial nomination, defeating Dr. William J.
Bailey, Osborn Russell and George Abernethy. The couvention
was not satisfactory, and all these gentlemen appeared before the
people as candidates. By a combination of the friends of Russell
and Abernethy, the latter, who was then in the Sandwich Islands,
was elected.
EIGHTEEN FOETY-FOUR TO EIGHTEEN FOETY-NINE. 287
The Legislature chosen assembled at Oregon City, June 24th,
elected M. M. McCarver Speaker, and remained in session two
weeks. The following oath of office was proposed by Jesse Apple-
gate, in view of the character of the people and their divided alle-
giance, and was administered to the members: —
Oath of Office— I do solemnly swear that I will support the organic laws of
the Provisional Government of Oregon, so far as the said organic laws are consist-
ent with my duties as a citizen of the United States, or a subject of Great Britain,
and faithfully demean myself in office. So help me God.
The most important business transacted was the di-afting of a
memorial to Congress, asking for a territorial government, and the
framing of a new organic law. On the twenty-eighth of June the
memorial was signed by Eussell and Stewart, of the Executive Com-
mittee (Abernethy not having yet returned). Judge Nesmith, and
members of the Legislature. Dr. Elijah White was delegated all the
to convey the memorial to Washington. The Legislature then ad-
journed to await the result of the constitutional election, which was
held on the twenty-fifth of July. This resulted in two hundred
and fifty-five votes for the new law and only fifty-two for the old.
The Legislature again assembled, according to the provisions of the
new law, on the fifth of August. It was then that the memorial
was placed in the hands of Dr. White for transmission to Congress.
After he had departed they became dissatisfied with their messenger,
deeming that he intended using it for his personal advancement at
Washington, and they sent a courier to overtake him and demand
its return. The Doctor received the demand coolly and refused to
comply. His answer, which showed how correct was their opinion
that he proposed making the memorial serve his personal ends, was
as follows: —
August 17, 1845.
To THE Hon., Etc.:
Gentlemen— Being on my way, and having but a moment to reflect, I have been
at much of a loss which of your two resolutions most to respect, or which to obey ;
hut at length have become satisfied that the first was taken most soberly/, and as it
answers my purpose best, I pledge myself to adhere strictly to that. Sincerely
wishing you good luck in legislating,
I am, dear sirs, very respectfully yours,
E. WHITE.
This letter, with a statement of the circumstances surrounding
it, was sent by another messenger to Washington, and arrived just
in time to foil the scheming Doctor's chances for an important
288
HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
appointment whicli he Avas about to receive. Among other acts
the Legislature passed a law making wheat a legal tender at market
price, owing to the scarcity of a circulating medium. The body
adjourned sine die on the twentieth of August. On the second of
December, the day set for the assembling of the Legislature by the
new law, and no election having been held, the same gentlemen
again assembled, and organized by electing Eobert Newell Speaker.
A session of seventeen days was then held, during which Polk and
Lewis counties were created, the latter embracing all of Washing-
ton Territory west of the Cascades. This had been designated
" Vancouver District " the year before, but had not sent a repre-
sentative to the Legislature. Sheriff Meek, in pursuance of an act
of ^he Legislature, took a census of the population. This did not
include those living north of the Columbia or east of the mount-
ains, consequently, except the ninety-one reported for Clatsop,
represents only the population of the Willamette Valley. The
table, which does not include the immigration of 1845, is as
follows: —
CENSUS RETURNS OF OREGON IN 1845.
7^
11
d
Under
12 years
ofage.
12 and
under 18
years.
18 and
under 45
years.
45 and
over.
Whole
Number
0
COUNTIES.
i
i
i
3
i
s
1
i
s
i
1
1
7
18
1
6
9
i
234
4(J0
61
309
2-57
a
0
18
24
17
14
57
85
29
197
69
54
12
15
136
53
114
8
90
57
15
42
4
26
23
129 361
Champoeg
Clatsop
142 136
14! 18
45j 37 171
1 3 42
28 24 142
31 24| 124
305 705
30 91
Tualatin
115
79
109
65
229 538
Yamhill
16 i 109
158, 415
Total
89
405
419
382
117
103
615
"3T2
110
41
1259
851
2110
The immio-ration of 1845 consisted of some three thousand souls,
about one-third of whom, under William B. Ide, of Bear Flag
notoriety, and guided by Greenwood, the traj^per, turned off at
Fort Hall and went to California. There has never been prepared
a register of the half dozen trains into which it was divided, and it
is impossible to give a list of the pioneers of 1845. A few might
be mentioned — names familiar in Oregon annals — such as Col. W.
G. T'Vault, J. C. Avery, John Waymire, Frederick Waymire, John
Flemming, Captain English, James B. Biggs, Eufus A. Biggs,
EIGHTEEN FOETY-FOTTE TO EIGHTEEN FOETY-NINE. 289
Stephen Staats, John Durbin, William J. Herren, General Joel
Palmer, Simeon Smith, David Carson, John M. Forrest, Dr. Kalph
Wilcox, Solomon Fetherous, James Allen. They brought the
cheering intelligence that James K. Polk had been elected Presi-
dent of the United States on the party cry of " Fifty-four-forty, or
fight," and had been duly inaugurated, and that the prospects for
an immediate favorable settlement of the mooted Oregon Question
were favorable. Their numbers, too, added so materially to the
strength of the American element that they then outnumbered the
representatives of Great Britain ten to one.
When the emigrants reached Fort Boise, Stephen H. Meek,
the same man who had served as guide in 1842, offered to show a
shorter and easier route across the Blue and Cascade moimtains
— one to the south of the old trail. A great many of them followed
him, while others refused to depart from the regular route. Meek
had never passed through the country he was now entering, but
had heard of it from others when he had, as a fi-ee American
trapper, been for a time in the employ of the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany. The route had never been used, but it was known that the
country through what is now Southeastern Oregon, was less mount-
ainous than that further north, and Meek naturally expected to find
a passable route and a good pass through the Cascades. In this he
failed, and as soon as the emigrants became satisfied that he was
traveling by guess, they became so indignant that he only saved
his neck by using his feet. They then undertook to pass down
John Day River, and finally reached the Columbia after almost
superhuman exertion. Had they trusted to Meek it is possible,
and even probable, that he would, by taking them further south,
have found them a comparatively easy route. This episode is thus
described by Hon. Stephen Staats, one of the immigrants of that
year : —
When nearing Fort Boise, much discussion was had relative to the route to be
followed after leaving that point. Stephen Meek had met the emigrants and pro-
posed to pilot them over a new route by which to bring them into the valley, assert-
ing that it was much shorter and better than the route to The Dalles. I recollect
one old gentleman, John M. Forrest by name, who, when the subject was warmly
discussed, declared he would follow the old route, even if he had to travel alone.
Says he: "When I left the States, after reading the letters of Burnett and others
from Oregon, I determined I would not be led off on any new route claimed to have
been discovered by any adventurer, but would travel where others had traveled.
290 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
aud thus be sure of arriving at the desired ijoint to which we are all looking." But
now the time had come for action. One morning, after a night spent in spirited
discussion, Mr. Forrest broke camp and started on the old trail ; others, with much
warmth, attempted to restrain him, but he persisted, and about twenty-five other
wagons followed his; others, under the leadership of Meek, struck off' on the route
declared by him the best and shortest ; but well would it have been for all those so
doing, had they persevered in following the old route, for experience proved to them
that had they so done, much suffering, in almost every conceivable form, would
have been avoided, and that they would have arrived at their destination much
sooner and their condition more hopeful as to future resources to provide for their
wants during the approaching winter.
It was but a few days after Meek left Fort Boise, that he became hopelessly lost,
and had it not been for the good judgment and determined energy of some of the
emigrants, and their hiring an Indian to pilot them through to The Dalles, many
would have perished and sufl^ered a most torturing death, that now survive and
to-day can recount the many sad incidents and afflictive events of their wearisome
travel to that point. It has been positively asserted that while Meek was thus lost,
he suffered to such an extent for the want of water to satisfy his thirst, that he
opened a vein in the neck of his mule, and thus, in all probability, secured his own
life by quaffing the life blood of that most noble and docile quadruped. But be
that as it may, whether true or not, there were moments when the sufferings of
husband, wife and children, became so unbearable, and so intensely torturing to
the mental vision of those having others depending upon them for support and pro.
tection, that had he who counseled them to take an unknown and trackless route
when almost out of provisions, and energies already nearly exhausted, made his
appearance among them, he might have been made a sacrifice to appease the angry
passions with which they were inflamed.
The anti-Hudson's Bay Company fanatics absurdly charge that
Meek was employed by the company to lead this train of emigrants
to their destruction in the mountains, the only evidence being the
fact that Meek — as did also a number of Americans who were known
as " free trappers," men who were somewhat independent of the
fur traders — had engaged himself for two or three seasons to the
company. The charge is too ridiculous to be considered.
The year 1846 was a momentous one for the United States. It
saw the settling of the Oregon Question, which confirmed to the
United States all that portion of Montana lying west of the Eocky
Mountains, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. It saw, also, the
beginning of the Mexican War, which gave us Texas, and the
wresting of California from Mexican rule by Lieutenant Fremont
and Commodores Sloat and Stockton. It was an exciting period,
and the country was held in suspense for months over the contro-
versy with England, during which war with that great power
seemed almost unavoidable. The incidents attending the settlement
of this great question are clearly and graphically described by
EIGHTEEN FORTY-FOUR TO EIGHTEEN FORTY-NIKE. 291
James G. Blaine in his " Twenty Years of Congress," in which he
displays a profundity of knowledge of the political intricacies of
that period which carries the weight of authority with his language.
To improve upon it would be impossible, and to epitomize it would
destroy its force and perspicuity ; nothing but a complete and
liberal quotation will suffice. Mr. Blaine says: —
The convention which nominated Mr. Polk took bold ground lor the immediate
re-annexation of Texas and re-occupation of Oregon. This peculiar form of ex-
pression was used to indicate that Texas had already belonged to us under the
Louisiana purchase, and that Oregon had been wholly ours prior to the treaty of
joint occupancy with Great Britain. It further declared, that our title to the whole
of Oregon, up to 54° 40^ north latitude, was "clear and indisputable"; thus carry-
ing our claim to the borders of the Russian possessions, and utterly denying and
defying the pretension of Great Britain to the ownership of any territory bordering
on the Pacific.
******
The election of Mr. Polk was an unquestionable verdict from the people in favor
of the annexation of Texas. Mr. Clay and Mr. Van Buren had been able to defeat
the treaty negotiated by Mr. Calhoun ; but the popular vote overruled them, and
pronounced in favor of the Democratic position after full and fair hearing. Mr.
Tyler was anxious that the scheme so energetically initiated by him should be
fully accomplished during his term. The short method of joint resolution was
therefore devised by the ever fertile brain of Mr. Calhoun, and its passage through
Congress intrusted to the skillful management of Robert J. Walker, then a senator
from Mississippi, and already indicated for the portfolio of the Treasury in the new
administration. Mr. Polk was in consultation with Mr. Tyler during the closing
weeks of the latter's administration, and the annexation by joint resolution had his
full concurrence. It was passed in season to receive the approval of President Tyler
on the first day of March, three days before the eventful administration of Mr. Polk
was installed in power. Its terms were promptly accepted by Texas, and at the
next session of Congress, beginning December, 1845, the constitution of the new
State was approved. Historic interest attached to the appearance of Sam Houston
and Thomas J. Rusk as the first senators from the great State which they had torn
from Mexico and added to the Union.
******
The policy of maintaining an equality of slave States with free States was to be
pursued, as it had already been from the foundation of the government, with un-
ceasing vigilance and untiring energy. The balancing of forces between new States
added to the Union had been so skillfully arranged, that for a long period two States
were admitted at nearly the same time— one from the South, and one from the
North. Thus Kentucky and Vermont, Tennessee and Ohio, Mississippi and
Indiana, Alabama and Illinois, Missouri and Maine, Arkansas and Michigan,
Florida and Iowa, came into the Union in pairs, not indeed at precisely the same
moment in every case, but always with reference each to the other in the order
named. On the admission of Florida and Iowa, Colonel Benton remarked that
"it seemed strange that two territories so difterent in age, so distant from each
other, so antagonistic in natural features and political institutions, should ripen
into States at the same time, and come into the Union by a single Act; but these
very antagonisms— that is, the antagonistic provisions on the subject of slavery-
made the conjunction, and gave to the two young States an inseparable admission."
m^
292 HISTOEY OF WILLAMETTE VALLET.
During the entire period from the formation of the Federal Government to the
inauguration of Mr, Polk, the only variation from this twin birth of States— the
one free, the other slave — was in the case of Louisiana, which was admitted in 1812,
with no corresponding State from the North. Of the original Thirteen States,
seven.had become free, and six maintained slavery. Of the fifteen that were added
to the Union, prior to the annexation of Texas, eight were slave, and seven were
free; so that when Mr. Polk took the oath of office, the Union consisted of twenty-
eight States, equally divided between slave-holding and free. So nice an adjust-
ment had certainly required constant watchfulness and the closest calculation of
political forces. It was in pursuit of this adjustment that the admission of Louisiana
was secured, as an evident compensation for the loss which had accrued to the
slave-holding interests in the unequal though voluntary partition of the Old Thir-
teen between North and South.
******
Looking into the future, the Southern men took alarm lest the equality of their
section should be lost in the Senate, and their long control of the Federal Govern-
ment ended. Even with Texas added to the Union, this equality was barely main-
tained, for Wisconsin was already seeking admission ; and the clause in the articles
of annexation providing that four new States might be carved out of the territory
of Texas whenever she asked it, gave no promise of speedy help to the South. Its
operation would, in any event, be distant, and subject to contingencies which could
not be accurately measured. There was not another foot of territory south of 36° 30',
save that which was devoted to the Indians by solemn compact, from which another
slave State could be formed. North of 36° 30' the Missouri Compromise had dedi-
cated the entire country to freedom. In extent it was, to the Southern view, alarm-
ingly great, including at least a million square miles of territory. Except along its
river boundaries it was little known. Its value was underrated, and a large portion
was designated upon our maps as the Great American Desert. At the time Texas
was annexed, and for several years afterwards, not a single foot of that vast area
was organized under any form of civil government. Had the Southern statesmen
foreseen the immense wealth, population, and value of this imperial domain in the
five great States and four territories into which it is to-day divided, they would
have abandoned the struggle for equality. But the most that was hoped, even in
the North, within any near period, was one State north of Iowa, one west of Mis-
souri, and one from the Oregon country. The remainder, in the popular judgment,
was divided among mountain gorges, the arid plains of the middle, and the unin-
viting region in the north, which the French voyageurs had classed under the com-
prehensive and significant title of mauvaises terres. With only three States
anticipated from the great area in the north-west, it was the evident expectation of
the Southern men who then had control of the government, that, if war with
Mexico should ensue, the result would inevitably be the acquisition of sufficient
territory to form slave States south of the line of the Missouri Compromise as rap-
idly as free States could be formed north of it ; and that in this way the ancient
equality between North and South could be maintained.
******
The Oregon Question, which now became associated, if not complicated, with
the Texas Question, originated many years before. By our treaty with Spain in
1819, the southern boundary of our possessions on the Pacific had been accurately
defined. Our northern boundary was still unadjusted, and had been matter of dis-
pute with Great Britain ever since we acquired the country. By the treaty of Octo-
ber 20, 1818, the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude was established as the bound-
ary between the United States and British America, from the Lake of the Woods
to the Stony Mountains, as the Eocky Mountains were then termed. In the same
EIGHTEEN FORTY-FOUR TO EIGHTEEN FORTY-NINE. 293
treaty it was agreed that any country claimed by either the United States or Great
Britain westward of the Stony Mountains should, with its harbors, bays, and rivers,
be open for the term of ten years to the vessels, citizens, and subjects of either
power. This agreement was entered into solely for the purpose of preventing
disputes pending final settlement, and was not to be construed to the prejudice of
either party. This was the beginning of the joint occupancy of the Oregon country,
England having with prompt and characteristic enterprise forced her way across
the continent after she had acquired Canada in 1763. Stimulated by certain alleged
discoveries of her navigators on the north-west coast. Great Britain urged and main-
tained her title to a frontage on the Pacific, and made a bold claim to sovereignty
as far south as the mouth of the Columbia River, nearly, indeed, to the northern
border of California.
Nothing had been done towards an adjustment during the ten years of joint
occupancy, and when the term was about to expire, the arrangement was renewed
by special convention in 1827, for an indefinite jDcriod — each power reserving the
right to terminate the convention by giving twelve-months' notice to the other.
The President, John Quincy Adams, made the briefest possible reference to the
subject in his message to Congress, December, 1827 ; speaking of it as a temporary
compromise of the respective rights and claims of Great Britain and the United
States to territory westward of the Rocky Mountains. For many years thereafter,
the subject, though languidly pursued in our diplomatic correspondence, was not
alluded to in a President's message, or discussed in Congress. The contracting
parties rested content with the power to join issue and try titles at any time by
simply giving the required notice. The subject was also overshadowed by more
urgent disputes between Great Britain and the United States, especially that relat-
ing to the North-eastern boundary, and that touching the suppression of the African
slave-trade. The latter involved the old question of the right of search. The two
governments came to an agreement on these differences in 1842 by the negotiation
of the convention known as the Ashburton Treaty. In transmitting the treaty to
Congress, President Tyler made, for the first time since the agreement for a joint
occupancy was renewed in 1827, a sijecifie reference to the Oregon Question. He
informed Congress, that the territory of the United States commonly called the
Oregon country was beginning to attract the attention of our fellow-citizens, and
that "the tide of our population, having reclaimed from the wilderness the more
contiguous regions, was preparing to flow over those vast districts which stretch
from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean ;" that Great Britain " laid claim
to a portion of the country and that the question could not be well included in the
recent treaty without postponing other more pressing matters." He significantly
added, that though the difficulty might not for several years involve the peace of
the two countries, yet he should urge upon Great Britain the importance of its early
settlement.
As this paragraph was undoubtedly suggested and probably written by Mr.
Webster, it attracted wide attention on both sides of the Atlantic ; and from that
moment, in varying degrees of interest and urgency, the Oregon Question became
an active political issue. Before the next annual meeting of Congress, Mr. Upshur
had succeeded Mr. Webster in the State Department ; and the message of the Presi-
dent took still more advanced ground respecting Oregon. For political reasons,
there was an obvious desire to keep the action of the government on this issue well
abreast of its aggressive movements in the matter of acquiring Texas. Emboldened
by Mr. Webster's position of the preceding year, Mr. Upshur, with younger blood,
and with more reason for a demonstrative course, was evidently disposed to force
the discussion of the question with British Government. Under his influence and
advice, President Tyler declared, in his message of December, 1843, that "after the
294 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
most rigid, and, as far as practicable, unbiased, examination of the subject, the
United States have always contended that their rights appertain to the entire region
of country lying on the Pacific, and embraced between latitude 42^ and 54° 40^"
Mr. Edward Everett, at that time our minister in London, was instructed to present
these views to the British Government.
Before the President could send another annual message to Congress, Mr. Cal-
houn had been for several months at the head of the State Department, engaged in
promoting, with singular skill and ability, his scheme for the annexation of Texas.
With his quick perception, he discerned that if the policy apparently indicated by
Mr. Webster and aggressively proclaimed by Mr. Upshur, on the Oregon Question?
should be followed, and that issue sharply pressed upon Great Britain, complications
of a most embarrassing nature might arise, involving in their sweep the plans,
already well matured, for acquiring Texas. In order to avert all danger of that
kind, Mr. Calhoun opened a negotiation with the British minister in Washington,
conducting it himself, for the settlement of the Oregon Question ; and at the very
moment when the Democratic National Convention which nominated Mr. Polk
was declaring our title to the whole of Oregon as far as 54° 40' to be "clear and un-
questionable," the Democratic Secretary of State was proposing to Her Majesty's
representative to settle the entire controversy by the adoption of the forty-ninth
parallel as the boundary !
The negotiation was very nearly completed, and was suspended only by some
dispute in regard to the right of navigating the Columbia River. It is not improb-
able that Mr. Calhoun, after disclosing to the British Government his willingness to
accept the forty-ninth parallel as our northern boundary, was anxious to have the
negotiation temporarily postponed. If the treaty had been concluded at that time,
it would have seriously interfered with the success of Mr. Polk's candidacy by
destroying the prestige of the " Fifty-four forties," as Colonel Benton termed them.
In Mr. Polk's election, Mr. Calhoun was deeply and indeed doubly interested: first,
because of his earnest desire to defeat Mr. Clay, with whom he was at swords'
points on all public issues ; and again, because having assumed the responsibility of
defeating the nomination of Mr. Van Buren, he was naturally desirous that his
judgment should be vindicated by the election of the candidate wiiom his Southern
friends had put forward. Urgentlj^ solicitous for the annexation of Texas, those
friends were indifferent to the fate of the Oregon Question, though willing that it
should be made a leading issue in the North, where it was presented with popular
effect. The patriotic spirit of the country was appealed to, and to a considerable
extent aroused and infliamed-by the ardent and energetic declaration of our title to
the whole of Oregon. " Fifty-four forty or fight " became a Democratic watchword ;
and the Whigs who attempted to argue against the extravagance or inexpediency of
the claim continually lost ground, and were branded as cowards who were awed
into silence by the fear of British power. All the prejudice against the British
Government wliich had descended from the Revolution and from the war of 1812
was successfully evoked by the Democratic party, and they gained immeasurably
by keeping a measure before the people which many of their leaders knew would
be abandoned when the pressure of actual negotiation should be felt by our gov-
ernment.
Mr. Polk, however, in his Inaugural address, carefully re-affirmed the position
respecting Oregon which his party had taken in the national canvass, and quoted
l^art of the phrase used in the platform put forth by the convention which nomi-
nated him. The issue had been made so broadly, that it must be squarely met, and
finally adjusted. The Democrats in their eagerness had left no road for honorable
retreat, and had cut themselves off from the resources and convenient postpone-
ments of diplomacy. Dangerous as it was to the new admiuistration to conlront
EIGHTEEN FORTY-FOUR TO EIGHTEEN FORTY-NINE. 295
the issue, it would have been still more dangerous to attempt to avoid it. The
decisive step, in the policy to which the administration was committed, was to give
formal notice to Great Britain that the joint occupation of the Oregon country
under the treaty of 1827 must cease. A certain degree of moral strength was unex-
pectedly imparted to the Democratic position by the fact that the venerable John
Quincy Adams was decidedly in favor of the notice, and ably supported, in a unique
and powerful speech in the House of Representatives, our title to the country up to
54° 40'. The first convention for joint occupancy had been negotiated while Mr.
Adams was Secretary of State, and the second while he was President ; so that, in
addition to the weight of authority with which he always spoke, his words seemed
entitled to special confidence on a question with which he was necessarily so famil-
iar. His great influence brought many Whigs to the support of the resolution ; and
on the 9th of February, 1846, the House, by the large vote of 163 to 54, declared in
favor of giving the treaty notice to Great Britain.
The country at once became alarmed by the growing rumors that the resolution
of the House was a direct challenge to Great Britain for a trial of strength as to the
superior title to the Oregon country, and it was soon apparent that the Senate would
proceed with more circumspection and conservatism. Events were rapidly tending
towards hostilities with Mexico, and the aggrandizement of territory likely to result
from a war with that country was not viewed with a friendly eye, either by Great
Britain or France. Indeed, the annexation of Texas, which had been accomplished
the preceding year, was known to be distasteful to those governments. They de-
sired that Texas might remain an independent republic, under more liberal trade
relations than could be secured from the United States with its steady policy of
fostering and advancing its own manufacturing interests. The directors of the
administration saw therefore more and more clearly that, if a war with Mexico
were impending, it would be sheer madness to open a quarrel with Great Britain,
and force her into an alliance against us. Mr. Adams and those who voted with
him did not believe that the notice to the British Government would provoke a
wai*, but that firmness on our part, in the negotiation which should ensue, would
induce England to yield her pretensions to any part of Oregon ; to which Mr.
Adams maintained, with elaboration of argument and demonstration, she had no
shadow of right.
Mr. Adams was opposed to war with Mexico, and therefore did not draw his
conclusions from the premises laid down by those whowere charged with the jwlicy
of the administration. They naturally argued that a war with Great Britain might
end in our losing the whole of Oregon, without acquiring any territory on our
south-western border. The bare possibility of such a result would defeat the policy
which they were seeking to uphold, and would at the same time destroy their party.
In short, it became apparent that what might be termed the Texas policy of the
administration, and what might be termed its Oregon policy, could not both be
carried out. It required no prophet to foresee which would be maintained and
which would be abandoned. "Fifty-four forty or fight," had been a good cry for
the political campaign; but, when the fight was to be with Great Britain, the issue
became too serious to be settled by such international law as is dispensed on the
stump.
A very bitter controversy over the question began in the Senate as soon as the
House resolution was received. But from the outset it was apparent that those who
adhered to the 54° 49' policy, on which Mr. Polk had been elected, were in a small
minority. That minority was led by General Cass ; but its most brilliant advocate
in debate was Edward A. Hannegan, Democatic Senator from Indiana, who
angrily reproached his party for playing false to the pledges on which it had won a
victory over the greatest political leader of the country. He measured the situation
296 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
accurately, read with discrimination the motives which underlay the change of
policy on the part of the administration and its Southern supporters, and stated the
whole case in a quick and curt reply to an interruption from a pro-slavery Senator,
— " If Oregon were good for the production of sugar and cotton, it would not have
encountered this opposition. Its possession would have been at once secured." The
change in the Democratic position was greatly aided by the attitude of the Whig
senators, who almost unanimously opposed the resolution of notice to Great Britain
as passed by the House. Mr. Webster, for the first if not the only time in his sena-
torial career, read a carefully prepared speech, in which he did not argue the ques-
tion of rightful boundary, but urged that a settlement on the forty-ninth parallel
would be honorable to both countries, would avert hostile feeling, and restore amity
and harmony. Mr. Berrien of Georgia made an exhaustive speech, inquiring into
the rightfulness of title, and urged the line of 49°. Mr. Crittenden followed in the
same vein, and in a reply to Senator William Allen of Ohio, chairman of Foreign
Affairs, made a speech abounding in sarcasm and ridicule. The Whigs having in
the campaign taken no part in the boastful demand for 54° 40', were not subjected
to the humiliation of retracing imprudent steps and I'etracting unwise declarations.
Under the influences at work in the Senate, events developed rapidly. The
House resolution of notice was defeated ; and the Senate passed a substitute of a
less aggressive type, in which the House, through the instrumentality of a confer-
ence committee, substantially concurred. The resolution as finally adopted author-
ized the President "at his discretion" to give the notice for the termination of the
treaty to Great Britain. The preamble further softened the action of Congress by
declaring that the notice was given in order that " the attention of the governments
of both countries may be the more earnestly directed to the adoption of all proper
measures for a speedy and amicable adjustment of the differences and disputes in
regard to said territory."
The Southern Democrats in the House receded from their action, and the modi-
fied resolution was carried by nearly as large a vote as had been the previous one
for decided and peremptory notice. In short, the great mass of the Southern Demo-
crats in both Houses precipitatelj' threw the Oregon issue aside. They had not
failed to perceive that the hesitation in the administration in forcing an issue with
Mexico was due to the apprehension of trouble with Great Britain, and they made
haste to promote schemes of territorial acquisition in the South-West by withdraw-
ing the pretensions so imprudently put forth in regard to our claims in the North-
west. Only fortj'^-six votes were given in the House against what was termed a
disgraceful surrender. These were almost entirely from Northern Democrats,
though a few Southern Democrats refused to recede. Among those who thus
remained firm were Andrew Johnson, Stephen A. Douglas, Howell Cobb, Preston
King, and Allen G. Thurman.
The passage of the modified and friendly resolution of notice dispelled all
danger of trouble with Great Britain, and restored a sense of security in the United
States. Immediately after its adoption, Mr. Buchanan, Secretary of State, under
direction of the President, concluded a treaty with the British minister on the
basis discussed by Mr. Calhoun two years before. The forty-ninth parallel was
agreed upon as the boundary between the two countries, with certain concessions
for a defined period, touching the rights of the Hudson's Bay Company, and the
navigation of the Columbia River by the British. This treaty was promptly con-
firmed by the Senate, and the long controversy over the Oregon Question was at
rest. It had created a deep and wide-spread excitement in the country, and came
very near precipitating hostilities with Great Britain. There is no doubt whatever
that the English Government would have gone to war rather than surrender the
territory north of the forty-ninth parallel. This fact had made the winter and early
EIGHTEEN FORTY-FOUR TO EIGHTEEN FORTY-NINE. 297
spring of 1846 one of profound anxiety to all the people of the United States, and
more especially those who were interested in the large mercantile marine which
sailed under the American flag.
In simple truth, the country was not prepared to go to war with Great Britain
in support of "our clear and unquestionable title" to the whole of Oregon. With
her strong naval force on the Pacific, and her military force in Australasia, Great
Britain could more readily and more easily take possession of the country in dispute
than could the United States. We had no way of reaching Oregon except by
doubling Cape Horn, and making a dangerous sea-voyage of many thousand miles.
We could communicate across the continent only by the emigrant trail over rugged
mountains and almost trackless plains. Our railway system was in its infancy in
1846. New York City did not have a continuous road to Buftklo. Philadelphia
was not connected with Pittsburg. Baltimore's projected line to the Ohio had only
reached Cumberland, among the eastern foot-hills of the Alleghanies. The entire
Union had but five thousand miles of railway. There was scarcely a spot on the
globe, outside of the United Kingdom, where we could not have fought England
with greater advantage than on the north-west coast of America at that time. The
war-cry of the Presidential campaign of 1844 was, therefore, in any event, absurd ;
and it proved to be mischievous. It is not improbable, that, if the Oregon Question
had been allowed to rest for the time under the provisions of the treaty of 1827,
the whole country would ultimately have fallen into our hands, and the American
flag might to-day be waving over British Columbia. The course of events and the
lapse of time were working steadily to our advantage. In 1826 Great Britain de-
clined to accept the forty-ninth parallel, but demanded the Columbia Elver as the
boundary. Twenty years afterwards she accepted the line previously rejected.
American settlers had forced her back. W^ith the sweep of our emigration and
civilization to the Pacific Coast two years after the the treaty of 1846, when gold
was discovered in California, the tendency w^ould have been still more strongly in
our favor. Time, as Mr. Calhoun said, "would have effected every thing for us"
if we could only have been patient and peaceful.
Taking the question, however, as it stood in 1846, the settlement must, upon
full consideration and review, be adjudged honorable to both countries. Wi&e
statesmen of that day felt, as wise statesmen of subsequent years have more and
more realized, that a war between Great Britain and the United States would not
only be a terrible calamity to both nations, but that it would stay the progress of
civilization throughout the world. Future generations would hold the governing
power in both countries guilty of a crime if war should ever be permitted except
upon the failure of every other arbitrament. The harmless laugh of one political
party at the expense of another forty years ago, the somewhat awkward receding
from pretensions which could not be maintained by the Executive of the nation,
have passed into oblivion. But a striking and useful lesson would be lost if it
should be forgotten that the country was brought to the verge of war by the
proclamation of a policy which could not be, and was not intended to be, enforced.
It was originated as a cry to catch votes; and except with the ignorant, and the
few whose judgment was carried away by enthusiasm, it was from the first
thoroughly insincere. If the punishment could have fallen only upon those who
raised the cry, perfect justice would have been done. But the entire country suf-
fered, and probably endured a serious and permanent loss, from the false step taken
by men who claimed what they could not defend and what they did not mean to
defend.
The emigration of 1846 consisted of some two thousand souls,
bringing with them four hundred and seventy wagons, and one
298 HISTORY OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
thousand and fifty cattle. At Fort Hall about one-half turned off
and followed the Humboldt River route to California, among whom
were the Donner Party, whose dreadful sufferings in the Sierra
Nevada Mountains form one of the saddest pages of Pacific Coast
history. The emigration was divided into a number of independ-
ent trains, each having its own leader and guide. Of those whose
destination was the Willamette Valley, the greater portion pursued
the old route down Snake River, and reached Oregon City without
any unusual incident. Not so with all of them, for one hundred
and fifty people, with forty-two wagons, were induced at Fort Hall
to attempt a new route. At Fort Hall, Fort Boise and Fort Walla
Walla, the Hudson's Bay Company was doing a thriving trade
with the immigrants, selling them supplies and buying for a song
their worn-out cattle, or giving in exchange for them an order on
the Chief Factor at Vancouver for a like number of the wild cattle
belonging to the company. The general feeling against the com-
pany was very bitter, and in the scoring of 1846 a number of men
who had settled in the extreme southern end of the valley, decided to
explore for a new route that would miss the company's posts and
present less obstacles to the passage of wagons than the old one
down Snake River. They believed that further south it was less
mountainous, and that Meek's idea of the year before was correct,
his error consisting in not keeping far enough to the south. If this
new route could be found they would accomplish the two-fold
object of drawing the immigrants away from the trading posts and
bringing them first into the upper end of the valley, where, prob-
ably, the majority of them would settle — a result earnestly desii'ed
by the few who had already made their homes in that region.
These men have been charged with having the latter result as their
sole object, and that to accomplish it they deceived the immigrants
as to the character of the route; but the allegation requires to sus-
tain it far more proof than has yet been adduced, especially when
made against such men as the Applegates.
The road party was composed of Captain Levi Scott, Jesse and
Lindsay Applegate, John Jones, John Owens, Henry Boggus, Wil-
liam Sportsman, Samjiel Goodhue, Robert Smith, Moses Harris,
John Scott, William G. Parker, David Goff, and Benjamin F.
Burch. They passed through Umpqua Valley and Rogue River
EIGHTEEN FOETY-FOUR TO EIGHTEEN FORTY-NINE. 299
Valley, crossed the Cascades to Klamath, Tule and Goose lakes,
and thence over the arid hills and valleys of Nevada to Fort Hall.
They found the route to present far less obstacles to the passage of
wagons than the old one, and were of the opinion that water and
grass existed at sufficiently short intervals to render it a practicable
one for emigrant trains. In this latter opinion they were not cor-
rect, though a few years later, the route having been remodeled and
new watering places found, it was quite extensively used by emi-
grants to Northern California and Southern Oregon. The trouble
lay chiefly in the fact that they were mounted, and traveled much
more rapidly than the slow- moving emigrant wagon, and were thus
easily led into a mistake in judgment. The consequence was, that
those who were led by their representations at Fort Hall to tr}^ the
new route, found it almost de^'oid of water and grass until Goose
Lake was reached. They suffered severely, and their cattle became
so feeble that they could scarcely pull the wagons along, many of
them lying down in the endless sea of sage brush to die. From
Goose Lake to Umpqua Canyon water and grass were plentiful,
but the work kept the cattle from recuperating fully, so that they
reached the canyon in very 
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